


The Raging Winds and Still Waters

by WhiteWitchDark



Series: Shadows in Sunshine [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Gray Jedi Kylo Ren, Gray Jedi Rey (Star Wars), The Force Ships It (Star Wars), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27675695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteWitchDark/pseuds/WhiteWitchDark
Summary: A dyad cannot be broken.  Rey of Jakku and Ben Solo's fight with the Emperor tore reality apart and someone took advantage of that to give them another chance.  After all, the Force must balance and balance cannot be found if there is only Light.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Shadows in Sunshine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100369
Comments: 42
Kudos: 130
Collections: All Time Travel All the time





	1. Interrogation or Something?

### Poe Dameron

Poe Dameron groaned and dropped his head against his chest as the droid floated out in the stormtroopers’ wake, leaving him alone in the depressingly bare room. They’d left him strapped to the only piece of furniture there, the interrogation chair, with blood dribbling into his eye from the shallow cut above it. He must look a mess. He felt a mess. The first round of interrogation was over and by the looks of it, he had a little breathing space before round two. He couldn’t afford round two. 

He needed to move. He needed to escape before Kylo Ren finished whatever he was doing and took over the interrogation. He pulled at the restraints on his less damaged right side, which proved futile, only serving to remind him of the abuse he'd already taken. The stormtrooper commander wasn’t particularly good at torture, which is why the sadist had left him with a couple of broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. The interrogation droid, he had the training to defy, but Ren could take a stroll through his mind and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Unless he could escape, they would find out about BB8.

He tried to twist his shoulders but was stopped by a searing pain that tore through his nerves and left him gasping for breath as black spots danced before his eyes. He wasn’t getting out that way. Next, he tried kicking his feet free from the ankle restraints, but that didn’t work either. The First Order apparently knew how to restrain someone. Who would have thought? All levity aside, he couldn’t move enough to get any kind of force behind his attempts to get free and he couldn’t use the Force so, where did that leave him? Other than waiting for the inevitable obviously… He tried pushing against the restraints again, twisting this way and that to put pressure on the straps holding him in place. There had to be a weak spot and he _had_ to find it!

The door whooshed open before he had come up with anything that worked. Dressed in black, masked, and exuding danger and darkness in equal measure, Kylo Ren swept in. He stood stark in the sterile interrogation room, but instead of making him seem out of place, the image reinforced that the monster was the master in this domain. And he was a massive man, Poe suddenly realised, his presence filling the room and making him seem even bigger. He found himself swallowing, trying to blink the blood out of his eye, trying to glare defiantly, trying to think of some way to hide the information Ren was here to take.

Ren passed him and turned to the side, picking something up. A second later a soft, damp cloth wiped the blood from his eye. “What did you say to annoy Captain Phasma that much, Captain Dameron?” Even modulated, the voice was soft.

He was too surprised to reply. Ren finished cleaning his eye and turned to drop the cloth back where he found it. An almost negligent wave of his hand opened the right-side cuff and before Poe had time to do anything but flex his hand, a water bottle was pressed into it. He brought it shakily up to his mouth and gulped it down on autopilot, not taking his eyes off Ren.

“New torture technique?” he asked slowly, lowering the empty bottle. 

Ren snorted, the sound only barely recognisable through the vocalizer, took the bottle, and replaced it with a ration bar, “No.”

He ate the bar slowly, watching Ren as he absently leant against the wall and poked a datapad. He didn’t seem in a rush. He didn’t seem bothered at all. When he finished eating, Ren took the wrapper and tossed it down the waste chute. Then he pulled off a glove, “This isn’t the most comfortable thing, but not even I can explain giving you medical treatment.” Reaching out his now bare hand, Ren caught Poe’s free one in his. He had a moment to wonder what the _kriffing_ force Ren was doing before liquid heat, just shy of scalding flooded him. It focused in his dislocated shoulder and his ribs. He threw back his head and screamed, knowing that the real torture was starting. 

Just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Sagging forward, he didn’t feel Ren let go.

It took him a few moments to realise he wasn’t dead, and a few more to realise he wasn’t hurting anymore. He lifted his head up to watch, bleary-eyed, as Ren replaced his glove. It made no sense, but “You healed me?”

“You couldn’t escape in that condition.” Ren agreed.

“Escape?”

“In a couple of hours, a stormtrooper, FN-2187, is going to run. He needs a pilot to get off the _Finalizer._ You’re it, assuming you can actually pilot a TIE?”

“I can fly anything.” Some of his usual cockiness snuck into his voice.

Ren simply nodded, “The manual release for the fuel lines is on the top right of the console,” then he held up a datachip and dropped it into Poe’s shirt pocket. “That has to make it to General Organa as quickly as possible.”

“I’m…”

“It can’t wait.”

“And I should just trust you? What game are you playing, Ren?”

The mask tilted a little and Poe could have sworn an exasperated sigh escaped the man before him.

“No game, Dameron. That chip contains information on the Starkiller Base, the First Order’s plans and positions and the person pulling Snoke’s strings. If you can get it to Organa in time, the resistance can stop that base being used.”

“I need to complete my mission.”

“It will be taken care of. You need to get to Organa. FN-2187 is your only way off this ship.”

“No, I don’t think you understand, Ren. Like hell, I’m taking that chip anywhere near the Resistance until it’s been checked. I’m not that stupid.”

The mask tilted again, Ren clearly disagreeing with him, “The Resistance base is on D’Qar.”

Pure terror turned Poe’s blood to ice, but Ren wasn’t done.

“Your droid, BB8, is currently in the possession of a scavenger named Rey, near Niima Outpost.”

Poe swallowed.

“Skywalker is on Temple Island on Ahch-To.”

“How…” Poe breathed out, staring at him in horror.

“And I intend to see the First Order fall, but I need that information to reach Organa immediately. Rey will ensure BB8 makes it to D’Qar.”

“I…”

Ren caught his free hand and pushed it back into the cuff, closing it, “I’m going to go out there now and give General Hux the information on the droid. I’ll go to Jakku’s surface to find it. Hux will be focused on my mission. FN-2187 will break you out. If you don’t take that chance, when I get back, I will have to give Hux the base’s location. This is your only opportunity of getting off this ship and back to D’Qar. Take it. Rey will find FN-2187 and help him and BB8 escape. You have no reason to trust me, but think about it, Dameron, we’re in the middle of the First Order and I’m helping you.”

“Yeah… that’s the bit I don’t understand.”

“You will. But not now. We’re out of time.”

The door opened behind them and a stormtrooper came in, “Take him to the cells.”


	2. Starting Over

### Rey

Rey rolled to her feet, breathing hard, her gaze swinging wildly around the AT-AT, taking in the once familiar space. Her little flower beside the rag doll she had made, the pilot’s helmet, her desk littered with half completed repairs, the old metal box that she kept her few pieces of clothing in… Was it true? She flung her hand out and her old staff, not her lightstaff – she refused to call it a saberstaff – jumped from the door into her hand, as her mind swept out into the galaxy on a tidal wave of the Force, frantically seeking the other half of her soul. This wasn’t a dream… it couldn’t be a dream… please let it not being a dream! _Ben!_ Alive! Not just living inside of her because of the Dyad, but real, alive here. If her dream was to be believed. If the man in it had been real…

Silence surrounded her, and the world… stopped. The Force, soundless and sensationless, but _there_ rushed in, and expanded across the stars to make two places one in the stillness. Dressed in full regalia, Kylo Ren stood before her, odd, ships she realised, lighting shining on the mask’s chrome edging, his own Force, a desperate hurricane roiling out across the galaxy in search of her own. For a moment, they stared at each other, neither truly believing what they were seeing.

“Rey” he breathed.

“Ben!” She threw herself into his arms and he caught her, holding her to him, his arms encircling her waist to take her weight. Her hands snaked up, instinctively knowing how to open his mask and then she was pushing it off him, needing to see his face, needing to feel his skin after all those years of ghost touches on her body and his voice caressing her mind. The mask hit the floor with a crash and his lips crashed onto hers a heartbeat later, bringing with them the sense memory of their first and only real kiss on Exegol. Her fingers slid through his hair and she kissed him back with abandon. One of his hands left her ass, and a second later she was pressed against the wall. Their minds slipped into each other seamlessly as their tongues tangled together, the bond singing between them, merging them together in mind and soul until neither had breath left and she wasn’t sure where she ended, and he began and didn’t care. She could feel him hot and hard against her, even with the armoured clothing and knew her body was already preparing for him, feeling the heat inside her grow.

Breaking apart long enough to suck in a breath, Rey swung her legs up onto his shoulders and shoved her hand down between them, letting the wall, and Ben, take her weight as her nimble fingers found the clasps, flipping his trousers open. Her hand slid between the supple leather and his skin, sliding around his cock, pulling him free. 

Ben moaned at the feel of her hand on him, “Hurry” he hissed, tugging her wraps off.

With one of his hands under her, a layer of warmth between the cool metal and her ass, he used the other to pull her leggings up to her knees, and she obligingly wriggled them higher, letting herself slide down the wall, her hips arching to give him access. He pressed against her entrance, still aware enough to realise she wasn’t wet enough yet, but they both wanted this and he could feel she didn’t care and she was getting wetter by the second and he took a breath, dropping what few mental shields he had left against her, letting his arousal and pleasure flood her to hide the moment of _burn_ as he pushed in. For a moment, her body resisted, before her quickly preparing walls gave way in a slick glide and he was inside her. _Home_

The first roll of his hips had her arching against him. The second had them both gasping as their minds bled into each other. His pleasure fed her and hers fed him. The pressure built in them both, but it was different to what she was used to. This was Ben’s pleasure driving them both higher. She simultaneously felt him slide into her and the ghost sensation of sliding into her as him. It was too much and too good and overwhelming and over stimulating and not enough of anything.

She chanted his name against his shoulder, one of her hands sliding under his collar in search of skin, and he gasped hers with every thrust, tightening his grip on her ass. He bottomed out one more time, driving up into her further then before and she felt the pleasure explode through him, through her, spilling between them and in them until she thought they would pass out. Ben felt so _good_ against her and in her, like this was where they were always meant to be. She gasped into his shoulder, her entire body trying to curl around him. He tightened his grip, leaning more of his weight against the wall in response. The wall could take their weight, but his legs couldn’t hold them up and they slid to the floor, still joined as the tremors finally stopped leaving the satiated and relaxed, staring at one another in wonder, at the one person they wanted and never believed they would have.

Slowly, reluctantly, Ben let his softening cock slip out, breathing hard as Rey whispered, “We died.”

“Yes… again. And now we’re alive again. I’m on the _Finalizer._ The… the datapad says it’s 34 ABY like the man in the dream…” he trailed off, taking her hand and turning to sit against the wall beside her, “Where are you?”

“I’m on Jakku, at my home.” She shifted a little, looking around, noting the wall went higher than the inside of the AT-AT, “I can see the wall.”

He looked at her in surprise, “You could never see my surroundings before. I couldn’t see yours.” A frown crossed his forehead as he played with her fingers, “Actually, that’s not true. I could see the fire when we touched hands.”

He stood up and she let him pull her away from the wall and to her feet. 

“And it’s gone.” An idea niggling at the back of her mind as she grabbed some cleaning rags and began to mop up the liquid slowly sliding down her thighs before pulling up her leggings.

Ben tapped a finger against his lip, clearly thinking through it, then let her go. He cleaned himself off with a gloved hand before pulling both gloves off and throwing them to one side. After buttoning his trousers, he turned and picked up a piece of fruit from something behind him. He handed it to her, “Can you take it? Like when you passed me the lightsaber.”

She reached, taking the fruit, and biting into it. It was tart and citrusy. Ben leant back against the table, which immediately came into Rey’s view.

“So, anything I interact with, you can see?” he mused, following the upper level of her thoughts, “You knocked Vader’s helmet onto the floor at Kijimi and I saw it. I wish we had more experience with the physical elements of the dyad.” 

Rey finished the fruit before speaking, this time out loud, “To me, it looks like you’re standing in the middle of the AT-AT. Like you’re here. Take two steps forward?”

Ben straightened up and took the two steps and Rey could see the question on his face as easily as read it on his mind. Instead of answering, she stepped over to him and reached for his hand, pulling him another step forward, “You just walked through some wires. Even holding my hand.” She reached up and touched the dangling lines, causing Ben to jerk back in surprise. They were right in front of his face.

“What does this mean?”

“I have no idea.” Ben admitted, “But I can research it. It’s not like we had any luck finding more information in the future, but Palpatine and Snoke might have…”

“Palpatine!” Rey’s eyes widened, shock and fear colouring her voice, “He’s alive again. _Everyone_ is alive again. The Hosnian Cataclysm…” The last words were a whisper.

“We can stop it! Dameron is in Interrogation. And Finn… what num… FN-2187 is here somewhere” Ben grunted, “I can feel his disgust and horror somewhere below. Hux gets approval to fire Starkiller after BB8 escapes. It should be completed in a couple of hours and...” Ben suddenly closed his eyes, “Han…”

“Is not going to die on Starkiller this time.”

Ben nodded and Rey could feel him forcing the emotions down to deal with the here and now, “I think I know a way to sabotage it. I don’t think Hux will be quite so fast to run to Snoke with my failure if he hasn’t got Starkiller to offer.”

“Why is Poe there?” she asked, suddenly remembering he had said it.

Ben shrugged and tugged her over to a sofa, dropped gracefully into it, and pulled her down onto his lap, “We captured him in Tuanul, yesterday.” He winced suddenly, “Phasma has been trying to get him to tell her where he put the map.”

“Oh. Wait, she’s torturing him?”

“She’s not very good at it.” Ben admitted carefully, “She’s a sadist. I usually let her have a go at a prisoner first and once they’re rattled, use the force to enter their mind while she finds a trooper to fuck. It’s easier that way.”

Rey gave him the look he deserved for that, “Finn helps him escape. It’s how they meet.”

Ben grunted, ignoring her expression, “He’s not as clever as he thinks. He’s been broadcasting his disgust since we got back. If he hadn’t run, I think I would have hunted him down and killed him just to shut him up. If I didn’t, Snoke would have the next time we met up with the _Supremacy_.”

“You need to stop Phasma.”

Ben shook his head, “I can’t. If I interrupt too early, it will look suspicious. What I can do, is heal him and give him information to pass to Leia. He got separated from you on Jakku, right? He can go straight to D’Qar while you get the Falcon and…” he swallowed, pain flashing across his face. She caught his hand, “It’s okay. It will be okay.”

“Rey... what are we going to do? We’ve fought this war already. We _died_ in this war already.”

Deep breath, “Run away with me.”

“What?” but she could read in his eyes that he knew. They had joked about this too many times over the years; when they had only the memory of touch and the ghost of sensation to keep them going. All the times they could have left, could have ran, could have built a life together if only they hadn’t been so deep in their respective sides.

“The dream, he said we should live our own lives, be more than our legacies, so let’s do what we want for once.”

The look he gave her was filled with wonder… desire… hope, but his voice was slow, careful, “There are problems. My training bond with Snoke for one. I’ll have to break it before I see him again and before I leave. Every change we make will impact how the future turns out. We can’t depend on our memories for long, and we can’t let him win.”

“No” she agreed readily, “And I’m not suggesting we simply abandon Leia and Han. But we don’t have to join the Resistance. We can help along the edges. Luke wants the Jedi to die. If we want any kind of future, we’re going to have to kill Palpatine anyway, which will end the Sith, so let the past die. We can work with what we know. We can make something new, for ourselves. Isn’t that what we always said we’d do if we could start over?”

He smiled, and nodded, lightly kissing her forehead, “So which future do you want? Traders, pilots, teachers, farmers, follow in my father’s footsteps? We talked of so many possibilities.”

She knew he was following her thoughts, but waiting for her to speak anyway, “You always said you wanted to be a pilot. Me too, so I think we should start with getting a ship. One for ourselves, with no history. We can trade, or just do odd jobs in ports, at least until we’ve killed Palpatine and can settle on a plan, but I like the idea of travelling the galaxy with you.”

Ben thought about it for a moment, imagining that future spread out ahead of them, and found himself filled with a deep sense of peace. “I’ll get as much information as I can and give some to Dameron. He can take it to Leia. Who knows, the rest might be enough to get me a pardon. We’ll need a ship that won’t be recognised, which will work out, actually, I can arrange to meet the seller at Takodana and we can leave from there.”

The energy in the bond vision began to fizzle, signifying it was about to end and outside sounds began to make their way in, including the shill warbling of BB8. A surprised expression passed over Rey’s face and then she was frowning, “You know, I had forgotten this? I better go rescue BB8 from that Steelpecker. Will I see you tonight?”

“We’re probably shouldn’t. Not until I break that bond…” he trailed off. Both knew the truth. The Force would connect them when it chose and he really, really wanted to see her, “But if it happens, I won’t object.” He pushed her towards the door, “Go get BB8. I don’t know about you, but after twenty years, I can’t remember that entire map and Leia will need it. I’ll fix Dameron and sabotage Starkiller.”

Rey laughed and turned to go, knowing he was already gone. BB8 was rolling around the little hollow outside the AT-AT, a large greyish bird flapping above. Swinging her hand up, she pushed it away with the Force, spinning her staff around to catch it on the beak when it hopped back. The steelpecker squawked and flapped higher. She flicked on the perimeter fence, sending sparks up into the air and the bird squawked again before flying away.

“You ok?”

BB8 beeped back in confusion.

“Practice. Are you damaged?”

Negative whistle. Rey nodded, “Come inside. It will be a few more hours before Niima opens and we can get you home.” She turned back, holding the door open for the droid and followed it in.

BB8 looked around, beeping softly as it took in the wall.

Rey looked at it, “Yeah, I know.”

More beeps, this time curious.

“Yes, I was, but I’m not anymore. There’s someone waiting for me now and once you’re safe, I’m going to him.”

Happy whistles. Rey smiled and lay back down on her pallet. She felt his Force presence, like a roiling storm filled with flickering lightening and dark clouds in the back of her mind, and at it’s centre a pinprick of calm. _Soon_ whispered across the cosmos and she didn’t know which of them said it.

###  Leia

“You need to come immediately, General!”

General Leia Organa looked up from the datapad resting on her desk, and leaned back in her chair to stare down the aide who had so rudely interrupted her by barging into her office unannounced, “It couldn’t wait for you to knock?”

The aide flushed, ducking his head to look at the stone floor and hiding behind light brown bangs, “N... No Ma’am.”

“Well that sounds bad.” The aide, to Leia’s experienced eye, was disturbed but not scared. She leaned back further to give him a look over and make him fidget when the general’s stars on her uniform caught the light. Her eyes flickered around the grey stone walls of her office, her mind gently sweeping out. No panic, no horror swept the base. There was something… it tugged at her, familiar, but the memory wouldn’t come. Her mind came back to her office and the fidgeting aide in his slightly rumpled uniform. Clearly, the First Order hadn’t found them or committed some new atrocity, something else had happened.

“You need to see for yourself, General. It’s… He’s… asking for you.” Confusion and not a little fear radiated off him as he spoke, but low-grade ebbing fear, not the immediate terror thinking of… say Kylo Ren, caused. No, this was fear of the unknown, not a known threat. She pushed herself to her feet and motioned for him to lead her out, pacing him as they walked along the old stone corridor of the Resistance Base to the main conference room. 

The current base was hidden in a semi-ruined temple on D’Qar. The thick stone wall helped hide their signals. The jungle around them hid the physical signs of their presence. The climate was reasonably nice. All told, every experience in Leia’s life made her believe it was too good to last. Maybe this was it. 3PO fell into step beside them as they walked. Leia nodded to him, her thoughts miles away.

Amilyn Holdo was standing by the door, already dressed to leave on the _Raddus_ that afternoon, a pinched expression on her face that Leia recognised from their long friendship. It used to appear whenever the Force came up in conversation. The other woman gave her a thin smile, “Fleet Command are waiting for you.” She sighed, “It’s been a while, Leia. You might want to brace yourself.”

Then Amilyn stepped back to allow her in. The blue light surrounding him was the first thing Leia noticed about the youngish man sitting at the conference table, but even after two decades, she recognised the Force Ghost immediately. Strawberry blonde hair brushed the shoulders of his Jedi robes and the neat beard still covered his jaw. Leia’s breath caught for a moment, “Master Kenobi? Obi-Wan?” she breathed in shock.

“Princess Leia, or should I say General Organa?” he gave her a cheerful smile, “I regret that I must inform you, your father is an insane, idiotic, nerf-herding excuse for a Force-forsaken wamprat.”

Someone spluttered behind her, but Leia could only drop into a spare seat with a groan, resisted the temptation to cover her eyes with one hand. She may not have seen a Force Ghost in twenty years, but even now the memories of the Ghosts coming and going during her training remained. Although she had eventually gotten used to them, they had started as an unsettling experience, none more so then Anakin Skywalker. The fight between them that first, and only, meeting was still used to embarrass her a decade later, and they hadn’t spoken since. It took her a moment to register the words and realise from the tone, Obi-Wan wasn’t angry… more fondly exasperated, “You’ve said that before, to his face no less, according to Luke. What has he done now?”

“He’s sent your son and his girlfriend back in time.”

She heard the shocked noises behind her as she tried to understand herself, “That’s possible!”

Obi-Wan sighed and spread his arms, “If it were anyone else, I’d agree, it’s impossible, But we’re talking about Anakin Skywalker, so it’s ‘improbable’ or ‘unlikely’ or even ‘ _kriffing_ stupid’ but not, unfortunately impossible and the idiot had already done it, so...” he shrugged, “After the last fifty years, you would think the Force would stop listening to him, Chosen One or not.”

“Wait, Darth Vader travelled back in time?” someone behind her, Jay Resdox she thought, yelped, clearly not having followed. Leia shook her head, her eyes pleading with Obi-Wan to explain. He grinned toothily at her, and the memory of him suggesting Lando ask for Ben’s help at the Sabacc table, and then laughed himself silly at Han and Luke’s reactions swam to the front of her mind. 

The Force Ghost gave the speaker a look that suggested they were as much an idiot as he had just accused Anakin of being, “ _Anakin Skywalker_ ” he emphasised the name, “is dead. A year from now, Ben Solo and his girlfriend, Rey, will die in the middle of the biggest conflux of Force energy in recorded history. They rather literally tore reality apart. Anakin used that to send their… consciousness’ … their souls back to here, now.”

“Where is … my father? Where are Ben and… Rey? What are they doing?” Leia whispered, not even bothering to ask about Rey, knowing if she was important to Ben, then she was to her.

Obi-Wan sighed, “Anakin isn’t here. He’s effectively stuck in limbo until the timeline settles, so you’re in no danger of running into him. Ben is on his ship, the Finalist or something…”

“The _Finalizer_?” someone interrupted behind her, dread lacing the tone. _Kylo Ren’s_ ship went unsaid, the question unasked for the moment.

Obi-Wan shrugged and continued, “He’s planning to leave, but wants to see how much damage he can do first. Rey is on Jakku keeping an eye on Poe Dameron’s droid and waiting for him to escape the Final Whatever’s cells. They seem fairly sure he will. Ben’s already healed him, so he should be able to escape quite easily. They’re using the Force for… eh… intimate purposes at present.”

“And Luke?” she wasn’t even going to contemplate the last bit.

“Is having his ass chewed out by Yoda. I’m sure he’ll be more receptive to your invitation this time then he probably was in the original timeline. Whatever Ani has done has given us more… capability… to act on the world of the living. I, for one, plan to take advantage of that.”

Another voice, one she recognised as Idrosen Gawat, interrupted, “Mr Kenobi, who is this ‘Rey’?”

“Master Kenobi.” He corrected absently, “Or General Kenobi, I suppose if we’re using military ranks. Never wanted it, but… And I don’t know. Anakin didn’t say much, but then, his ability to communicate is a bit limited right now. Her name is Rey. She’s on Jakku and she has Dameron’s droid. Rey and Ben are acting on the will of the Force and you should them go… And there was something about ‘a power like life itself’ which has a few of the masters tied in knots, but they won’t talk until they’ve finished meditating, so...”

Leia wanted to pinch the bridge of her nose, remembering all the headaches she had gotten from Force Ghosts over the years, “Obi-Wan…”

He held up a hand, “Usually, I live, or die, in fear of Anakin’s next ‘great’ idea. This one… despite everything, I’m on board with. There is something in the Darkness, something more than we can see. Anakin was created to bring balance to the Force. We all assumed he was meant to do it while he lived, but… having seen Rey and Ben, I’m not sure we have the same understanding of ‘balance’ as the Force does. Anakin isn’t sure when he pulled them from, only that they _died_ then. For you, strategically, they have at least a year’s knowledge of the future and more importantly it means the most powerful weapon in the First Order’s arsenal has been removed from play.”

“What do you mean, ‘the most powerful weapon’?” Idrosen interrupted.

Leia felt Amilyn’s hand fall onto her shoulder and squeeze as her eyes flared open and she shook her head at Obi-Wan. He smiled sadly at her, “Don’t make the same mistakes again.” 

Leia’s eyes narrowed and her lips thinned as she snapped, “Mistakes?”

“Secrets.” Obi-Wan held her gaze, “The kind of secrets that would make a child too terrified to ask for help. The kind of secrets that have a mother convincing her son, she won’t care or believe someone tried to kill him.” 

Leia deflated, “What? Who tried to kill him?”

“Ask him.” Obi-Wan’s gaze had cooled as he swung it around the people in the room. She hoped he wouldn’t find them wanting. She hoped they would still be here afterwards.

“Ben Solo is Kylo Ren.”

Fleet Command exploded.

It took Amilyn a while to re-establish order while Leia sat there, staring into the distance. The truth about Kylo… _Ben_ was always going to cause problems. Just like Vader’s identity cost her the senate, Kylo’s would now cost her the Resistance but all she could think about was that someone tried to kill Ben and he hadn’t believed she would care. She had made a lot of mistakes with him, she knew that, but he had to have known she cared about him… Obi-Wan was looking at her with sad eyes, his cheerfulness from earlier gone.

“Did you know about this, Admiral?” Gawat snapped across the table.

“Yes.” Amilyn said simply, “and this reaction is the reason I cautioned against exposing his identity.” She glared at the Force Ghost, “There were better ways to do it.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, “Maybe. Maybe not.” He sighed and adjusted his robes, “Snoke had been after Ben since before he was born, grooming him. Ben knew something was wrong, but Snoke had enough sense to stay away when Luke was visiting, so no one had a reason to look for outside influences until it was too late. By the time Ben could tell anyone what was going on, he wasn’t willing to talk about it. He thought everyone would hate him.” 

He waved Leia down when she tried to interrupt, “You feared him and for him. So did Han, and it showed. A casual tantrum from any other six-year-old was glossed over, but a single yell from him was compared to Darth Vader about to fire the Death Star. A playground scuffle was waved off by other parents, but he might as well have killed someone… The few times we convinced him to reach out for help… well, everyone was so busy, and a child’s nightmares weren’t nearly as important as this trade agreement or that border dispute. The nightmares could wait until the next time and the next…” His eyes were hard as he looked around the room. Leia fought down the guilty look that threatened, struggling to keep her composure. No one else at the table managed it. Remembering how often one of them had kept her late, it brought a savage satisfaction to her.

“Then he finally did tell you and next thing he knew, he’s being shifted off to Luke, who is also scared of him and clearly doesn’t like him. Either, you had gone from barely any time for him to no time and got rid of him or you hated him now because there was something _wrong_ with him. And when the truth about Vader came out… well he knew what it was.”

Obi Wan sighed and continued, “In the end, Snoke had him so effectively isolated and everyone else distrusting him, holding him to an impossible standard he didn’t know and couldn’t understand… all Snoke had to do was offer him was the truth. It might have been a warped, incomplete truth, but it was _something_ and Snoke was _there_ when Ben needed him _._ ”

Leia winced.

“Luke tried” Obi Wan sighed into the now silent room, “But Snoke had dug his claws in and Luke had been forced into a position he wasn’t ready for. He had no experience with children, limited experience with teaching adults and he had absorbed enough of Tatooine’s culture to be uncomfortable creating a training bond.” He held up his hand, “While one isn’t necessary to train a padawan, it would have let Luke know Snoke was already establishing one without Ben’s knowledge. He would also have known the darkness he felt in Ben was an _attack_ on Ben, not coming from him. As it was, all he could feel was the Dark, not the intent, and he acted accordingly, if a tad rashly.”

“Are you implying that _Luke Skywalker_ made that monster?” Resdox asked slowly.

“Of course not.” Obi-Wan scoffed, “Ben Solo made Kylo Ren. I’m saying, every person in this room, along with Luke Skywalker, handed him the pieces to make the monster out of.”

Silence followed his words this time. Leia could feel the leaden weight of guilt in it.

Obi-Wan looked around at them, finally fixing his gaze on Leia again, “Anakin was adamant that Rey and Ben will play their part when the Force wills it. I can’t give you orders, General Organa, but it’s my considered opinion that you should trust the Force and let them go. Pardon Ben, or treat him as a defector, whatever it takes.”

Then he was gone.

Leia threw a half-hearted glare at Amilyn “Brace yourself? You couldn’t have told me who it was?”

Amilyn shrugged, “I wasn’t sure which one it was. Are you going to let him go?”

A general murmur of negatives came from the rest of Fleet Command. 

Leia sighed. In her heart, the tiny seed of hope she had carefully shielded and protected began to grow. But she was leading the resistance, and she had to make this decision as a military commander, not a mother. But still she hesitated, well aware that being the commander and the stateswoman before being a mother was what had landed them in this situation, fighting her _son_ , in the first place. She had doubted her choices many times in the last seven years, but nothing had changed, not really; she was still the general and she was about to make the same choice again because despite what Obi-Wan said, they had no _proof_. Still she didn’t speak for a moment, testing out her words before saying them, “I have never been led astray by a Force Ghost. When I didn’t follow their advice, I usually regretted it afterwards.” She held up her hand to stop the exclamations, “But, we have no evidence to support Master Kenobi’s claims. As a general, I feel we must proceed with caution until we have enough evidence to make an informed decision about Kylo Ren’s apparent defection. As a mother, I am willing to be _hopefully_ cautious, but we must wait for him to make contact.”

She stood up and looked around the room, “Thank you.”

Then she swept out, every bit the regal princess. Kylo Ren, Ben, would make the next move.


	3. Baby Steps into a Different Future

###  Rey

Rey let Finn pull her across the market, keeping an eye out for the TIE fighters she knew were incoming, BB8 rolling along behind her. Damn, she missed her lightstaff. At this point, any lightsaber would do. The closer the incoming fighters got, the angstier Finn got. By the time they spilled out onto into the landing field, he was practically vibrating. This time, Rey curved around, looking like she was running for the quadjumper while making straight for the Falcon as the first wave of weapon’s fire swept across them. They had to get off the planet before Kylo made planet fall. If they saw each other in the flesh… Rey couldn’t promise not to jump him. She felt an answering lack of faith from the other side of her soul and smiled ruefully. Knowing what the other was feeling had some unexpected drawbacks.

They dashed up the ramp, and Rey pushed him towards the gunnery, “Gunner position is down there!”

“You ever fly this thing?” Finn yelled as he followed her directions.

“No one has. This thing hasn’t flown in years.” She called back, desperately trying to remember how the conversation went. And then she felt it, Ben’s presence, like a rising storm rolling over them.

“He’s here!” Finn whimpered into his headset.

“What? Who?” Rey punching in the launch sequence. At least this time she knew what she was doing. It was a much smoother take off and they were in the air that much faster.

“Kylo Ren! He’s here.”

“Not yet!” in her head, she directed a please to the Force, “And even if he is, we’ll still escape.”

“That’s his Tie!” Finn mumbled staring out the window, “Stay low! Stay low!”

“What?”

“Stay low! It confuses their tracking!”

Oh, “Right.” She knew that. The Falcon sped away, gliding low to the ground as she made for a clear space.

They were in the air. Finn had calmed down enough to aim, and he had managed to take out the first TIE fighter when a lucky shot clipped the dome and jammed the gun rails. “Shit, shit, shit! Guns are stuck in forward position! I can’t move them” came across the comms. The other two pilots proved smart enough to stay out of the jammed gun’s sights, coming in on the sides. Rey tried to ignore Finn’s fear as she edged up, aiming to get the TIEs positioned to Finn could take them out. He whimpered every time Ben’s silencer came into view above them, but he kept shooting which was all she could ask for. Spinning the _Falcon_ around, Rey dropped it beneath the wing of a wreck, pulling back up to into sky. Kylo’s silencer dropped behind her, blasters fire… and missing. Finn shrieked in her ear. Rey didn’t remember Finn being this terrified of Kylo Ren the first-time round, but she didn’t have time to worry about it. She swung left, giving Kylo the excuse to ‘lose’ her and felt the distance between them widen as he pulled back onto the sky. The chase was exhilarating. The Super Star Destroyer was coming up. She focused on getting through the ruins of the ship, trying to turn the Falcon to give Finn a shot at the two TIEs tailing them.

Suddenly, Kylo Ren’s _Silencer_ dropped down on front of her and opened fire. Finn screamed. The fighter tore under the Falcon’s belly, guns strafing the two TIEs chasing them and they both fell towards the ground, burning heaps of scrap metal for the scavengers to find. And just as suddenly, he was pulling back up into the air above Jakku, wheeling around to come back at them. The Falcon turned up and away. The _Silencer_ lined up another attack and the Falcon leapt to Hyperspace. Across the bond, she felt Ben’s joy at the flight, his pleasure at her escape and his pride at her ability. She smiled as she felt along his mind, as he dipped under the wreckage, not in any hurry to get back. Force, but he was glorious in the air. Poe might have been the best pilot in the resistance, but that was only because Kylo Ren was on the other side. There was an answering nudge from the bond, telling her that Poe would have been relegated to third if she had been a resistance pilot too. She pushed the same feelings back to him adding her thanks. Now, they just had to get picked up by Han and Chewie and get to Takodana. Right, she could do this. The light for the air quality started blinking… but first she needed to fix the propulsion system before they got gassed.

###  Ben/Kylo

Kylo Ren swept through the corridors of the _Finalizer_. Crew members and stormtroopers alike darted out of his way, desperate to escape his rage. Hux’s desperate order to use the new hyperdrive tracking technology had them in hyperspace before Snoke’s message for an update come in. Thankfully, that gave them an excuse to avoid an audience, so he had some breathing room. He needed the training bond severed, but it would take time and meditation, neither of which he could afford right now. He had too many loose ends to tie up, but he would have to _make_ time. Takodana was still 12 hours away, he would make this work.

A sigh escaped him; the projected anger was exhausting to maintain when he didn’t really feel it. Snoke liked him angry. Angry people didn’t hold their shields very well. Angry people were easy to control. Snoke made sure he was always angry, but Ben had learned to use that rage to hide he thoughts and his emotions. He often wondered if Snoke knew how much he hid behind his fury and humoured him, or whether he had slipped it by him. Ironically, he thought Mitaka of all people might have, to a certain extent, realised the pattern to his outbursts. They made him seem unpredictable and a little unhinged but using the little failures to vent the Darkness driven anger through destruction was the easiest and ultimately least destructive way Snoke would approve of.

The doors to the bridge slid open, “Report.” The mechanised voice came out of his mask as he strode in. There was no hint of a question in the order. 

Hux’s back tensed as his immediate terror swamped his pride. He took a moment to compose himself, to convince himself he wasn’t terrified of Kylo, before he answered, “The Supreme Leader wants us to attend an audience as soon as possible.”

“It may be best to have something good to report before that audience.”

“I agree. I sent a message saying we would be there immediately after obtaining the droid, but our sources indicated time was limited and therefore we would need to act immediately. _The Supremacy_ acknowledged receipt, but we haven’t had confirmation.”

“And the droid?” Kylo noted the use of ‘our’ and ‘we’. Hux was already trying to position himself to avoid blame.

“We’re tracking the ship though Hyperspace now. It’s piloted by a human female scavenger and an unknown male who we suspect is FN-2187, the deserter who freed the rebel pilot.” 

Hux paused, looking like he had swallowed a lemon and took a breath, his hesitance to say the rest obvious.

Ben was glad the helmet covered the grin that crossed his face. Finn and Poe had got out! They had been among the few people he and Rey had trusted with the truth, and while it had taken Poe a while to come around and Finn never really had, he could still remember when Poe had acknowledged he and Rey should have had the chance of a life together. The pilot’s approval had meant more than he had expected and part of him wanted that back. Another part of him recognised how futile that hope was.

Hux’s words pulled his attention back, “The ship is a Corellian YT-1300f light freighter and before you say anything, there are thousands of that model still in the air.”

“It’s the _Millennium Falcon_.”

“I doubt it… Ren.” Hux sneered, his pause proof of the name he wanted to spit out. The Supreme Leader had made it clear Hux wasn’t to even think that name, but he could feel how much the man wanted to throw it into his face.

He leaned in, his mask only centimetres from the general’s face, “Say it.” He breathed.

Hux ground his teeth together, clamping his lips shut. He held out for only moments before the forbidden name hissed through his teeth, venom laced and filled with hate, “ _Ben Solo_ ”.

“The Supreme Leader would expect me to kill you for that, General Armitage Hux.” He murmured, the synthesised voice still clear, “Inform me when we arrive at their destination.” Then he straightened from his looming position over the general and turned back to the door, sweeping out with the force of presence he had learned from his mother. It wasn’t something he employed much, not when inciting fear was far more acceptable, but one of his few pleasures was angering Hux with the reality of who and what he had been. He had never understood Snoke’s reasoning behind telling the man, even as he went to ridiculous lengths to keep anyone else from finding out. He understood why Leia had kept it quiet, she had never been good at learning from her mistakes, but what satisfaction Snoke derived from holding his birthname over anyone’s head was beyond him. He had never offered to be their hero, had never wanted to be a Jedi, or a general or a senator. Arriving at his quarters, he felt the grin return, it was almost time to get to his current favourite pastime, but first he needed to check something. A presence, both familiar and unfamiliar, had pressed again his mind earlier and he had a feeling he knew what it meant.

He leaned back in the chair with a pleased sound, he had been right. Hopefully, it would go some way to convincing Finn to give him and Rey a chance. With a smile, he turned his attention to her and to their future, opening his inbox to see if his cautious search has produced any results. There were two messages waiting for him from ‘informants’, both heavily encrypted. Hux had sneered at the instruction to have anything on the servers with that code destroyed, but he lacked the hacking ability to copy the messages himself and the staff were too terrified of Kylo Ren to disobey. JX-1564 would inform him if they did. Cultivating her loyalty had been a brilliant move, even if he hadn’t particularly enjoyed the method. It had, at least, finished cementing Kylo Ren’s reputation. And her help in sabotaging Starkiller had been invaluable. He wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.

The first message offered him nothing of value, but the second had possibilities. The seller was a gambler who had won the ship, a CorellianT-2400 light freighter called _The Silver Cloud_ in a sabacc game. They didn’t need the ship and wanted it off their hands. Better still, it was on Takodana already. He hesitated for only a moment before sending a message confirming his interest and that a contact would inspect the ship. He arranged the credit transfer, sealing it with a release code. Maz Kanata had a lot of faults, but if she was willing to have the Castle as the collection point, the seller was legit. He read the specs again, this time purposefully sending the information to Rey, along with the seller’s details. He could feel her elation through the bond and couldn’t help the smile as he heard her memorizing the release code. With a bit of luck, they could be off the planet before Hux had time to get inventive and then... They couldn’t afford to have the _Finalizer_ follow them. It would also, hopefully, get Leia to at least listen to him, probably for the first time ever.

Standing up, he looked around his quarters, trying to decide if there was anything he needed to take when he left. The Knights of Ren had dropped off the few possessions he’d left on the _Night Buzzard_ when they last checked in, which if he remembered, included the cross body utility belt Han had randomly sent him when he was 15. The box was still in the wardrobe, he had done no more than drop it there and forget about it. Digging around, he found the belt, the soft black bantha hide sliding easily through his fingers. Luke had let him keep it because it was a rather impersonal gift from his estranged father and, once he altered it to hold his lightsaber on his back, a rather practical tool, even if he never had cause to use it at the Training Temple. The blaster holster was empty. Luke had never approved of blasters at the temple. Now, it would finally serve its purpose since the lightsabers would be too distinctive to use all the time. The credit chips obviously, although they would have to take care trading them, went into a pouch. The kyber crystals he had salvaged when the groundwork for Starkiller Base began would go into another. He picked them up, one by one, feeling their weight, hearing them sing in the Force. The last one felt… different. Half awake, almost, its tune inviting, if languid. Maybe it was meant for Rey and was picking her up through the bond.

He dropped them into the top pouch on the belt and laid it out on the desk, then he rooted through the box until he found the vibro-knife Tai had given him, slipping the sheathed blade into his boot. If he was going to be a scoundrel… He had never used the belt in the time he had been with Snoke, so wearing it would probably be commented on, anything else… well truthfully, he couldn’t think of anything else he wanted to take. His cloak would cover the belt anyway.

He got back to work. Ben was by no means a slicer, but he was a competent programmer and a gifted mechanic. Along with having the accesses required to start with, and no need to hide his identity, he had already laced the _Finalizer’s_ systems with traps. He had set the ship to send an automatic update on his command, in the hopes a lot of officers and staff with allow their stations to auto update without thinking about it. It probably wouldn’t do anything to _the Supremacy_ , but it might hobble the rest of the fleets and if Dameron got to Leia in time, they could use the confusion.

There was only one person on board with the skill to figure it out and he couldn’t put her off any longer. His roiling emotions caught Rey’s attention and she sent the question to his mind. She knew this had to happen, but instead of acting like the love interest in a bad holo and getting angry, she wrapped the Force around him in a hug, offering her silent support, her respect, her love. Ben drew a breath and hit the comm, asking JX-1564 to join him when her shift finished.

It didn’t take long. He had timed it to her shift ending, and she entered his quarters with the ease of familiarity. He could feel Rey’s amusement, as she tried to fit this piece of information into the galaxy’s image of Kylo Ren.

“Is everything ready?” he asked. He hadn’t put his helmet on, a simple intimacy he knew JX appreciated.

She smiled and nodded, “All your programs are in place, Kylo. They’ll start in two standard hours and I deleted everything under your code when I came off shift.” Using his first name, an affection she felt she had earned. Rey whispered _Ben_ in his ear at the thought.

“You are amazing, Jax.” Another familiarity, the shortened version of her designation. She knew she was a tool, useful in his silent war with Hux, a means to an end. Jax was happy with that because she was using him just as much. She knew where she stood and knew that he would protect her from the fallout. Still, it had been risky, agreeing to help sabotage Starkiller, even if the handful of hours would do little more than humiliate Hux and Kylo would make it worth her while. She liked playing the officer’s games with him. It gave her a sense of power. He felt Rey’s amusement at the rapid-fire thoughts crossing Jax’s mind. For a second, he felt phantom arms around him and an offer to withdraw, to leave him what privacy was possible in a dyad. Mentally, he shook his head, tightening his Force around her.

Jax smiled at him, her thoughts now on the _reward_ she was expecting for her help, tilting her head and for a moment he hesitated at what came next, wondering if she was saveable, feeling Rey’s confusion in response. She wasn’t upset with him or pushing him, but he had been so sure only moments ago. As always, Rey was pragmatic in her response; if unsure, test.

He motioned Jax to a seat but didn’t take the other one like he usually would have, “I’ve been thinking. Jax suits you far better than JX-1564.” His thoughts turned to Finn.

“That’s my designation, Kylo. I’m from the stormtrooper ranks. I don’t have a name.”

“I know. I wonder if you should.”

She stiffened, “Is this about the deserter? FN-2187?”

Right now, the stormtroopers thought _everything_ was about Finn. The way Hux had been behaving, the general obviously agreed with them.

“No,” he shook his head, “This is about you and who you want to be, because I want you to succeed.” He slipped into her mind as it raced, trying to find the trap. Kylo saw everything he needed to. He had no illusions about their relationship, or about Jax, not really. It just… felt like a waste… She had so much potential, all wasted by the Hux Method and the First Order. She had no real loyalty to anything but herself and Snoke, and no real desire to change that.

Jax rose back to her feet, swinging her hips, “Right now”, she let a bit of heat enter her voice, “I think you know what I want.” She held out her hand and he accepted, letting her pull him to her. She tilted her head up, expecting a kiss. He felt Rey push him, it was the least he could give her. He bent down, catching her lips in a soft meeting, so unlike their previous encounters. Her breath was soft, suddenly unsure. Kylo was always lust and passion and rage, never soft. He kissed like he wanted to consume, but not this kiss, Kylo knew was an apology and a goodbye. The lightsaber in his hand ignited. Jax’s eyes didn’t open as her last breath fell into his mouth. He held her close as the blade powered down, her life already fled. Scooping her body up, he carried her into his bedroom and lay her corpse on the bed.

###  Leia

Fleet Command had been… cautious since Obi-Wan’s visit. They hadn’t disagreed with her orders. They had yet to even question them, but they had scrutinised each communication that crossed their desks to ensure she wasn’t allowing sentiment to influence her. She had spent her life putting the galaxy ahead of her family, which was what led them here. The irony wasn’t lost on her.

Today had started out the same and whatever Leia had been expecting to happen as it wound down that evening, it wasn’t a healthy, clearly uninjured, if dusty, Poe Dameron running down the ramp of a rust bucket transport, demanding and yelling to see her. He had left in an X-Wing. Obi Wan implied he escaped in a TIE and she had no idea what the rust bucket he was exiting even was, but she stood in the doorway and waved him towards the conference room, a genuine smile crossing her lips, even as black squadron gazumped him. Poe was everything she had hoped Ben would be, everything her true son wasn’t and while his recklessness might worry her and his arrogance annoy her, she had no fear of him falling to the dark. He _should_ have been her son or maybe Ben _should_ have been like Poe. It was a bitter thought. He wasn’t her son, but for the first time in a long time, she had reason to believe Ben could be saved and that had to count for something. A calmness spread over her. Either Poe would confirm what Obi-Wan had said, or he would destroy what little hope she had managed to maintain.

Poe disengaged himself from his fellow pilots with grins and slaps on the back. He wanted to stay with them, she could tell, not even needed the Force for it. It was in the glance over his shoulder and tilt of his shoulders, Dameron was first and foremost a wing commander but he left them and followed her into the stone-walled conference room where the rest of fleet command waited. This wasn’t what he would be expecting she realised too, late to warn him, since usually she debriefed the pilots herself and gave a report to Fleet Command, but they had been more hands on lately… Trust, such a precious thing and one she knew the fragility of. Leia nodded to him, encouraging him to take a seat at the table. Amilyn flickered once and solidified into the last seat, _the Raddus_ now too far away for her to take a shuttle back. She started the debrief, asking “Tell us what happened, Captain Dameron?”

He looked at her, a faint confused look of semi-recognition crossed his face, and Leia suddenly realised Poe, unlike Ben, had never meet Amilyn Holdo before, so she interrupted, “I think introductions might be in order, Vice Admiral?”

The other woman nodded once, probably having come to the same conclusion herself and proceeded to give Poe the names of everyone at the table, finishing with, “Now, your report, captain?”

“I don’t know where to begin.” He pulled the data chip from his pocket and threw it into the conference table, “ _That_ is courtesy of Kylo Ren, who claims to have changed sides. He…” Dameron deflated, “He knows where our base is. We have to move. He knew where BB8 was and he said that Luke Skywalker was somewhere called Achoo, on Temple Island. He didn’t even question me, he just _knew_.”

Leia relaxed, “What did he do to you, Poe? What do you remember him doing?” She picked up the data chip, toying with it a moment before handing it to Connix.

“He… he healed me and told me a stormtrooper, Finn, was coming to find me. He… did you know the manual release for the fuel lines is on the top right in a TIE? Who puts the release on the main console?”

“The First Order.” Leia smiled, “He healed you?” She shared a look with Amilyn, “Healing is not a Darkside ability.”

The other woman shrugged, and Leia could clearly see the mock disgusted look Amilyn wanted to pull in her mind.

“Yeah… anyway, he was kind. He gave me water and a ration bar and told me to escape. To get the chip to you, but there’s no tracker, or anything. It’s just data. I don’t understand.”

She nodded, elation, for a moment coursing through her, “The Force Ghost of Obi-Wan Kanobi, a Jedi Master and one I remember from… before came here and told us this was happening. Apparently, my… father sent my son and his girlfriend back in time, from their future to our present. According to Obi-Wan, they are on our side, but acting on the will of the force, not on what _we_ think they should be doing.”

“Right. Your son?”

“Yes, Kylo…”

Ackbar interrupted with a frown in her direction, his throat gills rippling, “Tell us everything.”

He started to explain his arrival on Jakku and the attack and capture, his frankly bizarre interrogation and his subsequent escape with a deserting stormtrooper. By the time he was finished Officer Kaydel Ko Connix had scanned the data chip and confirmed what his sources already had, the chip was clean. Gawat inserted it into a reader and the file menu came up, bases, ships, formations, resources… all laid out in black and white for them. Jay Resdox might have whimpered.

Two items were flashing. One was titled Starkiller Base. The other, WatchMe.

Leia selected WatchMe.

A holo sprung to life showing a man in a mask, dressed in black with a cape swirling from his shoulders, Kylo Ren; “General Organa, given my interaction with Captain Dameron, I hope you are watching this and have heard at least a basic story. Needless to say, I intend to abandon the First Order and I am passing on as much information as I can beforehand. I do not intend to join the Resistance. I don’t think your people would appreciate my company” she could almost see the smile curling his lips, “but I am no longer your enemy. I’m willing to trade involvement in specific incidents during this conflict along with information for a pardon. The information I have provided with Captain Dameron is a gesture of good will and an idea of what I can offer.”

The figure paused for a moment before continuing, “I have had enough of war, Leia. This was always your arena, and grandfather’s. It’s not mine and I’m tired of it. If you can’t agree to this, I accept that. I’ll run and you can hunt me down along with whatever remains of the First Order when I’m finished.”

Either way, I have highlighted the information on Starkiller Base, the First Order’s new planet buster. It will be ready to fire in 45 to 48 hours from this recording’s creation, depending on how long it takes them to fix the mess I made. It’s first target will the Hosnian System, and it will take out the entire system in one shot. I strongly suggest you destroy it before then. I’m also warning you now that your location will be compromised shortly, so you might want to start evacuating now.

BB8 will have more information, including how to contact me. I said I would help in certain fights, and this is one of them.”

The holo flickered off, leaving silence in its wake. Leia reached over and selected the flashing icon for Starkiller, “Connix, can you please summon any data analysts we have on site? We need a way to take down this Starkiller Base in” she checked the date stamp “the next 10 hours.”

She looked at Poe, weighing her next words, “Would you trust him?”

Poe swallowed, feeling the gaze of fleet command on him. Leia could feel his mind slithering around the Kylo’s identity, trying very hard not to make the connection. Poe was reckless, and arrogant, with the kind of gung-ho mentality that a fighter pilot needed, but he was not stupid, and he faced his fears. He had all the pieces of puzzle. He sighed once and Leia watched him acknowledge it, “Yeah, general, I would.”

She turned to look at around the table, weighing how much the First order had cost each of the individually. 

“All that remains then is the deal he offered.” She nodded to the still glowing holo, “All that and his help in the fights, for his freedom.”

No one spoke. Poe fidgeted beside her, until she gave him a smile and nodded to the door. He ran for it, casing a small laugh to escape her. Turning her attention back to Fleet Command, “So, do we want Ben and Rey’s help? And what are we willing to pay to get it?”


	4. Escaping the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we're back on recognisable ground now... TFA spoilers... seriously If you're reading this, you know what happened in the film. The dialogue that isn't mine is from the novelisation of the Force Awakens. PM me for a line by line break down, Most of it is paraphrased anyway
> 
> And thank you to everyone who revived and sent kudos. I'm glad you are enjoying

###  Rey

Rey heaved herself out of the undercarriage and tossed the tools back into the box, eyeing Finn, who was side-eying BB8.

“Ok, where are we going?”

Finn nudged BB8, “Tell her.”

She really shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as she was and she had long ago forgiven Finn for lying to her, but it still felt _good_ to put him on the spot and watch him squirm. How he had expected to pull this lie off, she had never worked out and he had never given her any reason to believe he had a plan. She watched him nudge the droid again. A few low whistles reluctantly escaped the spherical droid.

“The Ileenium System? Really?”

“Yup!” Finn confirmed enthusiastically, “Ileemlium system.”

“Any idea on which of the twenty-four planets?” Rey asked airily as she walked past him into the cockpit.

“Err…” Finn followed her but was saved from answering when the ship powered down, “What the..?”

“Relax.” Rey smiled, taking the pilot’s seat.

“The First Order… We have to…” Finn was already working himself up to panic, vibrating where he stood.

“Relax” Rey said again, “It will be alright. Besides, the people coming on now, know where the resistance base is.”

“They do?” Finn asked, “Wait, I told you it’s in the…” he trailed off, the name not coming to him.

“Banthashit.” Rey said. BB8 whistled a snigger.

“Chewie, we’re home!” a voice came from the interior of the ship. Finn darted out of the cockpit as a roar answered and Rey smirked a little as she watched Finn pale and rapidly back up from the oncoming Wookie. Her heart hurt as she watched Han Solo follow his partner in, blaster pointed at them, “Where are the others?” he asked, looking between them, anger clear on his face, “Where’s your pilot.”

Rey shook her head, “No others, just the three of us and I’m the pilot. Rey.” She held out her hand.

Han eyed her, ignored her hand and spat, “You?”

Chewie, beside him, let loose a growl, following by a low-pitched howl.

“No, its true. We’re the only ones on board.” She nodded to Finn and BB8.

“You can understand that _thing_?” Finn gaped at her.

“And that _thing_ can understand you, so watch it.” Han snapped, the blaster not moving, but Rey saw his finger tighten, felt his anger, and for a moment shared it. Finn had taken a while to get over the ingrained xenophobia of the First Order. She’d forgotten what it was like at the beginning.

“The ‘thing’ is a wookie from Kashyyyk. The language is called Shyriiwook. I can understand that one, not sure about the others.” She said softly.

Han looked at her in surprise before his expression hardened again, and he motioned with the blaster, “Yeah, well, that way.”

Rey stood up and walked past them into the main living area. Once they were away from the controls, he snapped, “Where did you find this ship?”

Rey took a seat at the dejarik table before answering, “On Jakku, at Niima Outpost. Unkar Plutt had it.”

Han stared at her, opening and closing his mouth before saying, “Jakku? That junkyard?”

“Junkyard!” Finn’s eyes lit up as he nodded to Rey, “Thank you!”

They both ignored him. Chewie growled and Finn slid in beside Rey quickly, hoping some of her calm and collected would rub off on him. Rey would have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t still watching Han.

“I told you we should have checked the Western Reaches! Just lucky we were in the right place when the beacon snapped on.” He tossed at Chewie, “Who had it? Ducain?”

“Or the Force willed it.” Rey murmured, getting a raised eyebrow from Han before she answered his question, “Unkar Plutt.”

“Who?”

“Rumour has it, Plutt stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain, who I’m guessing stole it from you?” She shrugged.

“Damn right he did!” anger and indignation filled his voice.

Finn looked back and forth between them, “Who are _you_?”

Ignoring Finn, he continued, “Well, you can tell him when you see him again, tell him Han Solo just stole back the _Millennium Falcon_ for good!” Then he slammed his blaster back into the holster and stormed back into the cockpit, followed by Chewie.

Finn gaped at the retreating back, “H…H…Han Solo? _The Han Solo?_ ”

Rey smiled sadly and patted his knee, “Han Solo, Rebellion General, ex-husband of General Leia Organa. I would assume he knows where she is, or at least a way to contact her.” Standing up, she followed them.

Han was looking down at the readout on the console, are glaring at it anyway “Hey! Some moof-milker installed a compressor on the ignition line!” Indignation poured off him.

“Unkar Plutt did. I thought it was a bad idea, puts too much stress on the hyperdrive flow.”

Han looked at her in surprise, then shook his head “Chewie, put them in a pod and send them back to Jakku, or wherever else local they want to go.”

Chewie roared confirmation.

Rey settled herself comfortably into the co-pilot’s seat, “Or you and your ex-wife could finally get the answers you want.”

Han frowned at her. Finn looked confused, but Chewie hummed in surprise and stopped trying to herd Rey out of the seat.

Rey nodded to the smuggler, “He never told you what happened, did he? Just up and disappeared. What did the message say again? _I’m sorry, I’m so sorry_.”

Han swallowed, his eyes widening, “How…”

Rey smiled a little cruelly, “And the next thing you know, Kylo Ren is walking around, answering to Snoke…” she nodded to BB8, “The droid belongs to a Resistance pilot named Poe Dameron. It has a map to Luke Skywalker.”

Anything Han could have said to that was interrupted by a load Banging noise.

Chewie roared. Han swore and leapt to his feet, racing out of the cockpit, “Don’t tell me a rathtar got loose.

“Rathtars? You’re hauling rathtars?” Finn’s terrified eyes flickered to Rey for a second and she could feel the mixed terror and fear for her spill down her back. _Ben_ never doubted her, and it annoyed her that after only a few hours, Finn already thought he had the right to interfere. It reminded her far too much of the future that had driven her to the Outer Rim and beyond for years at a time. She could feel it, the plans to get her safely back onto the _Falcon_ , forming in his mind. She fought the glare down and hissed, “You don’t have that right, and I don’t need or _want_ your protection.”

He flinched sharply.

Sighing, Rey reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, allowing some of her calm to flow into him. Finn hadn’t been this excitable the first time, had he? Then she strolled after Han and Chewie, eventually joining them just as the blast door began to open. Rey reached out with the Force, grabbed BB8 and deposited him beneath an open section of walkway before Han could say anything, “The First Order knows about him by now. Might be best if no one call tell them you, of all people, have him.” She leaned one hip against the railing, her staff gripped lightly between her hands. If it came down to a fight, Rey was the weak link in this. She had spent most of her life, one mouthful above starvation and had neither the muscle memory she was used to replying on, nor the physical conditioning to make up for it. What she did have, potentially, was a way to stop this escalating into a fight, providing neither of the gangsters about to join them were mentally strong enough to resist the suggestions.

Han opened he mouth to say something, but he never got the chance. With a last clang, the doors slid into place, revealing the six men standing there, dripping weapons and menace on equal amounts. Rey had fought Kylo Ren to a standstill. Against him, the gangsters’ posturing was almost cute. Beside her, Finn whimpered, Chewie tightened his grip on the bowcaster, muscles tense and Han’s shoulders tightened as he straightened. She side-eyed him as Han’s nerves spilled down her back but showed nowhere on his face. Possibly, her concept of menace was a little out of whack.

“Bala Tik!” Han called, sounding delighted to see him.

Bala Tik walked in surrounded by his goons. Reaching out with the Force, Rey found the KanjiKlub members coming through the ship towards them. Han was talking, but it was clear the Guavian Death Gang boss wasn’t buying what he was selling. Rey didn’t pay any attention, too busy weaving a subtle web of influence around the two gangs and keeping Finn from panicking.

“Why don’t you tell them yourself?” Bala Tik snapped suddenly as the doors behind them opened to reveal KanjiKlub. Han looked behind him. Rey took a breath and stepped away, looking at both Bala Tik and Tasu Leech. She put some power into her voice and moved her hand across her chest, catching their attention, “The rathtars are here. You know where King Prana is. You could take them to him and get the reward yourselves.”

Tasu Leech frowned and then said, “We could take them to him ourselves.”

Bala Tik shook his head, trying to shake off the stray thought. Rey pushed more power into her voice, waving her hand again, “You could take the rathtars to King Prana yourselves. That would more then cover any debt Han Solo and Chewbacca owe you.”

“That would cover the debt owed us.” Bala Tik agreed slowly. It wasn’t going to hold for long.

“We’ll just grab our things and go. You should talk about how to arrange this.” She waved her hand again pushing more power, “In the cockpit.”

“Get your stuff and go. Let’s go to the cockpit.” The Guavian Death Gang walked past them slowly, and together the combined group headed off. Once they were gone, Rey hauled BB8 back out from under the walkway and glared half-heartedly at Han, “Grab your kit and let’s get off this ship before that trick wears off.”

“You were one of Luke’s students?”

“I never went to Luke’s school. Hurry, we don’t have long.” Then she turned and headed back to the Millennium Falcon.  
  


### Han

Han entered the cockpit of his pride and joy to find Rey already busy with pre-flight. He felt like he had whiplash. The _girl_ was a Jedi, or at least Force trained. The only person who could have taught her was Luke, who had disappeared right before his son – _his son –_ revealed himself as Snoke’s enforcer, a son he thought was safe at Luke’s school. But she didn’t look old enough to have been a student and the droid had the map to Luke… and all the things he had run away from were suddenly on the horizon again. He felt sick.

“Passengers back there.” He snapped, trying to cover it.

“Plutt installed a fuel pump. I’m getting it primed now.” She snapped back, “And you need a co-pilot in this thing.”

“I hate that guy. I don’t even know him, and I hate him.” Han sighed, taking the captain’s seat and letting his head fall back.

“Don’t worry, I can hate him for you.”

“Thought Jedi weren’t meant to hate.” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye trying to get a feel for her.

“Jedi don’t.” she shrugged, “I’m not a Jedi. Or if I am, I’m a Grey Jedi, not a Light one.”

“Right.” That told him nothing, he’d never even heard of Grey Jedi, but now was probably not the time to talk about it. Han began to punch the sequence for hyperspace. Rey just watched him until eventually, his hand on the controls, he asked, surprised, “Not going to say anything?”

Rey smiled, “Punch it.”

Han’s answering smile had all the devil-may-care charm that had once caught him a princess and the Falcon lurched into hyperspace from inside the hanger. They were free. An alarm went off somewhere behind them. 

“Chewie!” Han roared.

An answering roar came back as the wookie thundered to the engine to find the source of the problem. Rey darted after him, remembering just how many things were about to go up in flames.

Numerous fires later, the five of them were once again around the table. Han drummed his fingers on the tabletop, impatience gnawing at him. He had to know, “Explain.”

Rey shrugged, “I’m not a Jedi. I just know some tricks. I grew up on Jakku and I’m Force sensitive. If Lor Sen Tekka had found me before the Temple burned, I likely would have been at it. Instead…” she shrugged.

“And what do you know about what happened?” That wasn’t it by a long shot, but he’d dealt with Old Ben Kenobi and Luke enough to know when to stop pushing if he didn’t want to find himself real interested in something else.

Rey sighed and looked away, “I’ve seen it in my dreams. When did you last see him?”

It was Han’s turn to look away. Chewie roared. Rey winced. Finn looked confused and BB8 warbled.

“Who?” Finn asked.

Abruptly, Han stood up and walked over to pat BB8 on the top of it’s domed head, “Let’s see what you got?”

The droid rolled away a bit and a lens opened, projecting a partial map of the galaxy around them, “It’s incomplete.” Han sighed, “Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been trying to find him.”

“What happened?” Finn asked quietly. Now that the initial danger had passed, Finn was beginning to show the empathy that had made him so popular.

“Luke was training a new generation of Jedi. One of the students…went bad. Destroyed everything. Luke felt responsible and disappeared. That’s all we got. One day everything was fine and the next Bam. A burnt-out ruin and a message saying he was sorry.”

“You don’t know what happened to him?”

“When people don’t know something, they make up stories about what they want to happen. Those who knew him best… he always talked about finding the first Jedi Temple. We think he went looking for it.” He nodded to Rey, “You know more.” It wasn’t a question.

“Luke… made a mistake.” She said, “It built on the mistakes of others and…” she shrugged helplessly, “You know the idea of the straw that broke the happobore’s back? Yeah, that was the straw. For what it’s worth, he didn’t start the fire and he didn’t strike first.”

“He didn’t?” he looked at her, surprised.

Rey slowly shook her head, “It’s not my place to tell you that story. I can’t… won’t break that trust.”

“Who are you talking about?” Finn asked softly, aware he was stepping on still bleeding wounds.

“Kylo Ren.”

Finn frowned, putting it together, “Kylo Ren was one of Luke Skywalker’s students?”

“He was the best of them, the most powerful, the one the Force came easiest too. The Light side, and the Dark.” Rey said just as softly, “He eclipsed Luke by the end. I think… I think that’s why Luke feared him so much.”

Han nodded slowly, wondering if the ex-stormtrooper would put together who Kylo was. He had a suspicion that Resistance story hadn’t fooled Rey either for all she seemed to be going along with it.

“You knew him?”

Han was saved from answering by alarm going off in the cockpit.

“What now,” Finn groaned.

“We’re here.” Han stood up and ambled back to the cockpit. Takodana. Maz… he wasn’t overjoyed to have to deal with her, but she’d know where to find the Resistance and who could be trusted to take the three of them there. She’d probably try to talk him into doing it himself and he could... He knew that and… the truth… what Rey hinted at… Damnit! He wanted to know why it had gone wrong. He wanted to know why he woke up one morning and found his son standing at the right hand of the Supreme Leader. He wanted to know how Luke had fucked up that badly, because the moof-milker had fucked something up somewhere! Rey knew; that much was obvious, but it looked like the only way he’d find out was by going back to Leia.

He dropped into the seat and began to punch in the landing sequence. Seventeen years since he last saw him in the flesh. Ten years with Luke. Seven with Snoke. And that last visit… He hadn’t meant for it to be the last. Ben had begged to leave. Begged to go home, begged to go anywhere other than the Temple. Luke had stood there, his face expressionless as his son cried. Later, he told him that Ben had settled in fine, but didn’t like not getting his own way all the time. The breakdown had been emotional manipulation, something Luke claimed Ben was _exceptionally good_ at. His Ben had never been good at it, but Luke had probably spent more time with Ben in the previous two years then he had in the eight before, so he let it go. So maybe it wasn’t the life Ben wanted and maybe it wasn’t the one he had promised his son, but it was better than the fire and death Leia woke up screaming from visons of. But he never got around to going back. There was always something else that needed doing, some other priority and then Leia had asked him to… and he’d agreed… and… and it all went wrong.

The falcon touched down. Han was no closer to deciding what to do. He wanted answers, but at the same time he didn’t. He didn’t want to know how much of it was his fault, how much would have been better if he had of just _taken_ Ben that day, so long ago. Fuck it, he’d leave it up to the Force. He yelled at them to hurry up and headed towards the gang plank. The sooner they saw Maz, the sooner this would be over.


	5. The More Things Change…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're finally at Takodana... Things are heating up and not just cause Rey and Kylo are finally together. And yes, the names are deliberate. I'm not entirely happy with the name of the ship, so any suggestions that Rey and Ben can change it to are welcome.

###  Ben/Kylo

Hours later, a dull beeping sound from the comm brought him out of meditation. A twitch of his hand and he answered from where he sat cross legged on the floor, “Ren.”

“Ren, we’re approaching Takodana.” Hux snapped, obviously still irked from earlier. 

“How long?”

“An hour.”

“How many informants have told us the droid is there?”

“Bazine Netal and Griff Geiger so far. We received the transmission as we came out of Hyperspace. Apparently, you were right, it’s in the possession of Han Solo. I presume you are going to retrieve it?”

“I will go alone.”

“Ren…”

He interrupted before Hux could start, “We need the droid, General Hux, not a fight with an unknown number of armed smugglers, bounty hunters and pirates. Maz Kenata will keep herself out of this unless we start the fight. I will go alone. _If_ I signal for help, you can launch a full-scale invasion. Prepare my ship.”

“The Supreme Leader prefers you to have at least two stormtroopers with you, Ren. I don’t want to explain this to him.”

“Fine.” Ben gritted his teeth. Hux had a point and as little as he wanted to agree, there might be a possibility he could exploit here. His reputation did have _some_ advantages.

“Have SN-9376 and GN-2509 join me in the docking bay.”

“GN…”

“Just do it, Hux.” Hopefully Hux would think he was being an asshole by naming his escort and that would be it. This way, he wouldn’t have to come back and get them later, so maybe following orders wasn’t too bad this time.

He turned his attention back to his meditation and looked at the helmet on the plinth before him. He strongly suspected that the man he had seen, and spoken to, in that faithful dream had been Anakin Skywalker and while he no longer expected his grandfather to answer him in the guise of Darth Vader, he would still like to thank the man for the second chance. As always, there had been no answer.

Shrugging the disappointment off, he turned his attention to the training bond. He had prepared himself as much as he could in the last two hours, had found and mapped the bond, it’s limits, where it held tightest and where it was weakest. He could feel it now, coiled around his mind, tendrils digging in. The Jedi version of the bond should gradually dissolve over time, as the padawan grew into their power. The Sith version, for all the Snoke was not a Sith, was usually broken by the death of one of the participants. In it’s own way, it was less rigid then the Jedi one, since it was designed to link two people of near or equal power. It was an attempt to force a dyad into being, not a way to monitor a youngling during training. And it was past time for his to end. He reached out and grasped the dyad bond with Rey, feeling her presence, her power, flood into him, handed over willing, _a power like life itself_. He took it all, wrapping the training bond in it, straining it until it screamed. At the other end, he felt Snoke jerk, scrambling to re-enforce the connection, drawing power from another source that tasted of death and decay – _Palpatine_ – Rey whispered in his mind as she wrapped herself around his psyche, protecting him from the backlash, from the damage Snoke tried to retaliate with. He continued, inexorably strangling the connection. The Force seemed to pause; the strain almost too much to take –

_SNAP_

He fell forward with a gasp, his mind clear of anyone but Rey who held him tight to her, as his frazzled psyche tried to regain it’s balance. Light, long buried, chained inside him flooded out and the Darkness ebbed against it, slowly settling, twisting back and forth between the two of them, mixing in the space between. Balance… and freedom… and power, more power than he had ever held.

He felt the familiar silence of the Dyad settle over his mind as it connected them and Rey was holding him in her arms, her Force surrounding him and mixing along the edges as she contemplated the change, “This is why I was stronger than you.” She whispered, “It never made any sense but Snoke… Palaptine, they were suppressing your connection to the Force, limiting you so they would appear more powerful.”

Ben laughed harshly, “I did wonder when he told us about the Dyad, because of the way you absorbed my training so easily at Starkiller, but by then it was too late. There was no way to know for certain if it was the Dyad opening between us or not.”

“How do you feel?”

“… Free.”

“Good, are you ready for this?”

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”

“I’ll see you soon.” She kissed him lightly and disappeared.

Ben climbed slowly to his feet, still feeling slightly unbalanced, like his centre of gravity had shifted. Grabbing a bottle of water, he chugged the entire thing, feeling slightly better for the cold liquid. He hoped Snoke and Palpatine were as wreaked as he was after that. Tossing the bottle into the garbage chute, he pulled on his boots, slung the utility belt over his shoulder and opened his belt long enough to slip the loop around it, holding the cross strap in place. Then he swung his cape around his shoulders, covering the belt. His lightsaber went in its normal place. He itched to put in into the belt for the over-the-shoulder draw he favoured when he was younger but didn’t want to attract any attention and he wouldn’t be able to reach it with the cloak in the way. Finally, he picked up the helmet and settled it on his head. He looked at the mirror, gazing at the monster in the mask. Kylo Ren or Ben Solo now? In the end did it matter? He was the same person. The boy who had trained in the Light as a child, fell to the Dark, returned to the Light and died, only to find a place between them even as he found himself in the place between life and death, his soul forever tied to another with a bond stronger than death itself. 

Changing his name again wouldn’t change who he was but shedding the image of Snoke’s Dark Apprentice could only help in the long run, and he hated the _kriffing_ helmet. It was the first thing he was getting rid of after Starkiller blew.

The door opened and he strode out of his quarters for the last time.

The docking bay was quiet. SN-9376 and GN-2509 stood at the ramp to his ship, their white armour gleaming in the harsh bay lights. Captain Phasma towered over them, her arms crossed the chrome plate of her chest armour, but she strode forward when she seen him.

She stopped him by the simple means to standing in front of him. “Is there any reason you picked these two?” she asked quietly, her helmet tilting slightly back to them.

“No. They were the only designations I remembered, why?”

Phasma snorted inelegantly, “Armitage was right then, you are just being an ass. GN-2509 is slated for reconditioning. SN-9376 is one of my best. I thought it was an odd combination.”

Of course, he knew that. He probably knew more about both of them then Phasma did at this point, but she didn’t need to know that.

“GN-2509 can go to reconditioning when we get back. Is there any reason I shouldn’t take ‘one of your best’?

“No” Phasma said, her melodic voice emotionless, “Try to bring him back alive though.”

Force no! “Of course, Captain. If that’s all?” his tone said it had better be.

She stepped out of his way, letting him go.

He stomped up the ramp, the troopers falling in behind him. They strapped themselves in as he took the pilot’s seat. Kylo Ren, thankfully, flew himself unless he had good reason not to, so no one questioned the lack of a pilot. One less person to deal with. He punched in the launch sequence and admitted to himself that he would miss piloting the _Silencer_ on the other side of the bay. It might very well be the only thing he missed. The docking clamps release and then they were out of the bay, diving towards the green planet below, and towards Rey.

He waited until the course was set before reaching up and pulling off the helmet, tossing it onto the floor. The troopers jumped at the crash and look over at him. He could fell their surprise and confusion. Not fear, no more than usual. Good, they didn’t suspect anything but a standard retrieval mission. He rose and stalked back to them. The moment he was in front of SN-9376, he spun, his lightsaber igniting as he drove it into the Stormtrooper’s chest. SN-9376 didn’t have any chance to react, the momentary shock barely brushed his mind before the force signature winked out. Stepping back, Ben flicked the saber off and looked at GN-2509 who had frozen in terror, which probably explained the reconditioning, “Take off your helmet.”

She hesitated, torn between the very real fear of what he would do if she disobeyed and her conditioning. They weren’t meant to remove their helmets. He gave her a moment, then ground out the command again. This time her hands rose to her head, fumbling slightly as she clicked open the helmet latches and clumsily pulled it off. Her hands were shaking. Terrified black eyes stared out at him, from a softer face then the one he knew, but still familiar. He nodded once, then turned and pulled off his cloak, tossing it forward onto the main console and sliding his saber hilt into the black holster on his back. “Take off your armour.”

“Sir?” She hesitated.

“You don’t want to serve the First Order. You never have. Since FN-2187 ran, you’ve been planning to do it yourself. Now is your chance. FN-2187 is on that planet and he’s heading to the Resistance. You can go with him or go somewhere else, but either way, Stormtrooper armour stands out, so take it off.”

She obeyed. Once he was sure she was doing it, he removed his belts and draped them over the pilots chair before stripping the overshirt off and tossing it after the cloak. Putting on the belt again,, he noted the waistbelt hung lower around his waist then he would like and left the empty blaster holster visible. The weapons cabinet remedied that. Punching a hole in the belt would have to wait.

“There’s something else you should know, two things actually, about Finn. First, he’s your twin brother. Second, both of you are force sensitive.” He turned to face her startled expression, scooping up the Stormtroopers’ standard weapons to put it in the weapons locker. They were too big to take with them.

“I… what?”

“I don’t know how it was missed” he shrugged, watching her as she finished pulling the armour off, and then slung her sidearm back around her waist, “but I checked the records when I noticed your thoughts were clearer than they should be. I already knew Finn… FN-2187 was sensitive, and yes, twins.”

“F… Finn?”

“Mmm. The resistance pilot he rescued named him.” He made his way back to the pilot’s seat, motioning her into her co-pilot’s chair. Stripped to her under-armour, the heavy muscles all troopers acquired caught his eye. She looked more like Finn when he could see them, maybe because he wasn’t used to seeing Rey’s best friend in stormtrooper armour. He tossed her his cloak and she gratefully pulled it around her, “You’re not going back, are you?” she said softly, wonder filling her voice. And he understood. In seven years, not once had he questioned an order. Well, not in public anyway. He had questioned plenty in private, but he had known better then to let even the idea that he disagreed with Snoke about _anything_ get any further then the Praetorian Guard.

“No.” He smiled over, “You need a name, can’t keep calling you GN-2509.”

She hesitated, still expecting a trap but he could tell she desperately wanted to believe. “Ask” he invited.

“Did you pick Kylo Ren?”

He shook his head, “I was... am, I suppose, a member of the Knights of Ren. We all take the name Ren. Kylo was picked by the former Master of the Knights. I’d like to think I wouldn’t have picked something so dramatic left to my own devices.” His lips twitched, “How does Gina sound?”

“Gina is good.” She nodded, “I like Gina, not dramatic at all.”

He laughed and held out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Gina, I’m Ben Solo.”

She took it before the name registered, “You’re…”

“Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son, yes.”

She didn’t say anything to that, but he could hear her thinking it was one hell of a family fall out. “Nice to meet you too… Ben” She said instead, staring at him, as she released his hand.

“Kylo is fine too. I’ll answer to either from most people.” He threw her a cocky grin and turned the conversation back to her, “Order records don’t show which planet you came from, or the ones I had access to didn’t, but you were two standard years old and your parents were paid for you. I can’t say if that was a willing payment or not.” He sighed as they came in for landing, “Finn doesn’t know he has a sister but, right now he’s here with Han Solo and Chewbacca and _that_ is a family reunion I would rather avoid.” The Falcon was three rows over from what he thought was _the Silver Cloud_ , so Han would not be in the air immediately after them. It would have to be enough. He pulled his mask to him with the Force and stood, draping the armoured overshirt on top. A bit of re-arranging and it looked like a bulky jacket tossed over his arm. Gina stood too and pulled the cloak around her properly, bringing the hood up to shadow her face. She pushed it back down, trying to make it lie cleanly. 

“It was designed to be worn up.” Ben said, watching her, “Here.” He flipped it back up, “No one will care in there.”

Pressing the button to lower the ramp, he added “Now, I’m guessing you want to find Finn?”

“He’s really my brother? Force, yes!”

Ben nodded and stalked down the ramp, “Then let’s find him and get off this planet before Hux gets impatient and Han realised I’m here.”

###  Rey

Rey stood up from where she had been crouched on the ground, holding Ben only a moment before, and brushed herself off. The small gap between the two tents had been barely big enough to hide her but when she felt Kylo reach for the full power of the Dyad, she knew what was happening. She had darted into the first gap she found so she could focus on him. Stepping out, she got her bearings back, the market was a brilliant mix of colour and sound, light and shadow, and close enough to Maz’s castle for Rey to run down while Han and Chewie argued with Maz about going back to Leia. The old pirate was an interesting character, but her adherence to the tenants of the Jedi faith had caused a few arguments between them in the future. Either way, the purchases she was making now were none of the old woman’s business. Or the Resistance’s for that matter.

The tent ahead of her was her final stop of the day. She pushed the bags higher up on her shoulder and stepped inside. There was a middle-aged woman and a young man inside, positioned behind a chest high screen. The man glanced at her and flushed. He didn’t look much older than she did. The woman waved her to the seats with a murmured, “One minute.” Then she ducked down. The man tensed and a hiss escaped him. The woman stood back up and patted his shoulder, “All done, dear.” There was a bit of shuffling behind the screen and the young man scooted past her with a blush and a nod, darting out of the tent into the afternoon sun and probably a hookup with a young woman of his acquaintance. Rey watched him go with a smile, then sauntered around the screen. 

The woman pulled a datapad to her and asked her name. “Rey.”

She got an eyebrow, “Just Rey?”

Nodded, she added, “I’m from Jakku. Family names aren’t a big thing there.”

The woman added her home world, then looked at her. “I have to ask the next questions for Galactic Health Monitoring laws. You can lie, but the information is sealed and can only be accessed if there is a health reason. How many sexual partners and roughly when?”

“1 about two years ago. And 1 now.”

“Names? You can refuse to answer if you want, but if anything happens and the information isn’t there…”

“Nelisoane of Jakku before,” A smile curled her lips, “And Kylo Ren, now.”

The woman’s eyes widened, looking at her in surprise, “Kylo Ren…”

“Well, If I’m going to lie, I may as well go big.” Rey interrupted, her tone saying it was not a lie at all.

The woman hesitated and licked her lips, “Are you sure? He might not take it well, whether it’s true or not…”

“I’m sure.”

She pressed a button on the screen and put it to one side, “It’s your body… and your life. Twenty credits.”

Rey handed them over and pulled her wraps aside, pushing her leggings down to show her abdomen. The woman picked up an injector and a little scanner which she ran over her until it located her womb. She pressed the injector in. Rey didn’t react, the small pain not even registering. The woman stood up and looked at her, “I suppose I have to ask, is he any good in bed?”

Rey grinned at her, “The Knights of Ren have no prohibition against sex. And Kylo is very, very good.” She just hoped he wasn’t paying too much attention right now, “Very attentive. He always makes sure I come first and last. And he’s strong enough to hold me up…” She adjusted her clothing and left, feeling very satisfied. Any crack she could make in his image was a good thing at this point.

It didn’t take her long to make it back to the castle and slip in through a side door. Recognising the corridor to her left, she headed down to the storeroom beneath the bar, feeling like she was stepping into the past. She put her bags down against the wall, memory guiding her.

The door opened to her touch and she stepped inside to see the box. Bracing herself for the visions, she pushed the lid up and grasped the hilt that lay inside.

Nothing happened.

The metal was cool in her hand. The hilt was well-balanced, and the grips fit her palm perfectly, making her wonder about Anakin Skywalker’s hand size, but no visions of the past swamped her. It was just a metal cylinder; it didn’t recognise her. She flicked the blade on, and blue light bathed her face, a grumpy string of notes in her mind from the crystal. She switched it off and was about to return it to the box when a glimmer of familiarity skimmed her mind. She looked at the hilt. She might not be meant to wield it, but… She turned and walked out of the room, catching up the two bags she had dropped on her way. Ben was on his way, and they needed to be ready to leave immediately. Maz Kanata was standing at the top of the stairs when she came back. “You have been here before. Your eyes… they have seen this.”

“I thought I had.” Rey agreed, “But I was wrong. It’s not my path anymore. Can you give it to Finn after I leave?” She held out the lightsaber. 

Maz took it slowly “You’ve given me this before.”

“Not here, not now.”

“Everything is changing. The entire universe has moved a step to the right, and you are the source of it. When you are ready to talk, I will be ready to listen.”

Rey smiled, “When I am ready to talk, I will come.”

Maz looked her over again, a breath hissing between her oddly shaped teeth as she reached out her hand, dragging it through the air on front of her. “In all my years, I’ve _never_ seen this before…” She drew back, shaking her head, “Everything has changed. Your boyfriend just arrived. He is waiting for you at the bar. You are taking him back? To Leia?”

Rey hesitated, “No, not yet. He isn’t ready to deal with either of his parents.”

“And yet you came here with Han.” Maz said shrewdly.

“I did, and I will leave with Kylo. If he runs into Han now… it will end in bloodshed.”

“You think we can’t take care of ourselves?” she crossed her arms, her tone no longer friendly.

“You and your people are good, Maz, but you can’t stop Kylo Ren on a rampage. I’m not sure anything can.”

“Even you?”

“I escaped him through luck and the Force. Not because I could beat him in a fight.” She tried to edge around but Maz moved to block her.

“You beat him through luck?”

Rey hissed, anger flashing, “Let me tell you about luck when fighting Kylo Ren, Maz. _Luck_ is fighting him when he has been ordered to take you alive. _Luck_ is fighting him when he hasn’t slept in three days. _Luck_ is fighting him when he’s already taken a bowcaster bolt to the side and is fighting with half a lung and a kidney missing. _Luck_ is fighting him when he is reeling from blood loss. _Luck_ is getting one hit on him that knocks him down. And when all of that is put to together, _luck_ is the damn planet splitting apart between you, so you _escape_ before he gets back to his feet.”

Leaving the old alien to stew on that, Rey stepped around the pirate, and strode towards the bar. She couldn’t see him through the other patrons. His force signature, that rolling thunderstorm what threatened to tear everything apart, on the other hand, she could have found in a room far busier than this. A black-cowled figure stood beside him. Rey paused, took a strangle hold on her libido, despite her body, she was not an uncontrolled twenty-year-old, and meet his eyes as he turned to face her. She fell into them, the world narrowing down to the man at the bar.

Rey didn’t remember walking over to him. She certainly didn’t remember grabbing him. But she remembered their lips meeting. She remembered the smell of him and the taste and the sound of his moan as he lifted her off the floor and held her tight against him. She felt his tongue slide against her lips, asking permission and she opened willingly, letting him stake any claim on her he wanted as the storm inside him whipped the still lake of her Force signature into a frenzy. Her hands slid into his hair and gripped it tight enough to hurt, unintentionally grounding them both back to reality. They broke apart, and Rey smiled at him, “Hi!”

“Hi yourself,” he dropped her back to the floor and motioned to his companion, “This is Gina, formally GN-2509 and Finn’s twin. She was one of the troopers assigned to come down with me. Gina, this is Rey, the scavenger we’ve been chasing around.”

“Nice to meet you.” Rey held out her hand.

Gina took it after a second, “I don’t think we’ve been chasing her for the same reason.” She said to Ben before turning back to Rey, “but nice to meet you too.”

“You said troopers? Are there more?”

“No, the other one was SN-9376. He didn’t survive.”

“Yeah” she nodded, “I can live with that.” She held out her other hand and handed Ben the two bags she was carrying. “Around the back. Third patch. I’ve looked her over and she matches the specs. Everything but those bags are onboard. I’ll drop Gina over to Finn and see if you can pull me through?”

He nodded, “I’m really not sure this will work, but it’s worth a try.”

“Handy if it does.”

Ben nodded and turned to Gina, “I’m not going to tell you what to do or where to go. The Resistance could use the help and they are going to win, but if you want to live the peaceful life of a moisture former on an outer rim world, then go now. Don’t get sucked back in.”

“Are you going to fight?”

“Yes.” Ben ran a hand through his hair, “But not as part of the Resistance. The Force always balances. If we want this war to end for good, we need to work with that and I don’t think Skywalker can even contemplate the idea. We’re better off on our own.” 

He adjusted the bags, “If he agrees to teach you, go for it. You and Finn have the ability. Just remember… the Jedi worship the light and they’ve had a _long_ time to get set in their ways. If the Light rises, the Dark will rise to meet it.”

“What does that mean?”

Rey answered, “It means the Jedi way is the path of Light, not the path of balance. There’s nothing wrong with that, providing they acknowledges that the Dark must be there as well.” She pulled Ben’s head down for a quick kiss and pushed him away, towards the landing field exit, “Go. If you want to get out of here without your father seeing you…” He went.

“Not what you expected of Kylo Ren?” she said to the woman as they watched him leave.

“No.” She hesitated, “I mean, he’s merciless, but he’s fair. He takes his temper out on equipment or people who should know better, but I’ve never heard of him killing any of us. General Hux… you don’t want to get on his bad side, but the most Ren would do is shove you into a wall, maybe choke you a little. With him, it sometimes felt like a game. And he’d cover for us, you know? If we didn’t pull the trigger on our first mission or held back, he’d know and he’d let it go, sometimes even give you the chance to get away and get your head on straight.” Gina realised she was babbling, but couldn’t stop the words, “One of my unit mates, he used to tell this story about Kylo Ren telling him to shoot at a building so his blaster registered firing on his first mission. If Captain Phasma caught you, you where screwed, straight to reconditioning, but Ren…” she shrugged helplessly, trailing off, “He never made any sense, but sometimes, you got the impression he felt more like a stormtrooper then an officer.”

Rey nodded in response, “Yeah, I can see that. And he was, in many ways. Snoke used him the same way Snoke used you.” Suddenly, she shook her head, “Enough with this talk, lets introduce you to your brother!”

She grabbed her hand and set off through the crowd.

“You’ll have to convince Finn to hang around. He’s adamant about making a run for the outer rim.” Rey said as she expertly wriggled through the punters.

“Why doesn’t he want to speak to his father?” Gina blurted out unable to keep the question inside any longer.

Rey paused and sighed, “It’s complicated. And this isn’t the place to try to explain it. Let’s just say, Kylo wasn’t what Han wanted and Han wasn’t what anyone thought Ben needed.”

Suddenly, she turned into a corner booth where two men sat with a Wookie. An orange and white droid warbled at them. “Gina, Finn, Han, Chewie” She nodded to each at the table, then grinned, “She’s Finn’s twin sister. I think you should take her too.”

“My… what?” Finn spluttered.

Gina looked at Rey for a moment, shock at the abrupt introduction clear on her face. Rey smirked back and continued, “Anyway, the _Finalizer_ is in orbit and I have no idea how far out the Resistance is, so you might want to leave now. Kylo’s messing with their systems won’t last much longer.” 

“We still don’t know where the base is, kid?” Han said reasonably, ignoring what else she said.

“D’Qar.” Rey shrugged, letting him.

“What? Rey?” Finn spluttered again before beginning to rise. Rey shoved him back with the Force and pushed Gina into his lap just as Maz reappeared with a tray of drinks. Rey stepped back, calmly letting Maz put the tray down. She winked at Chewie and mooched closer to him. Chewie roared in annoyance. He was more worried about what Rey had said then Maz trying to climb onto his lap.

“The _Finalizer_ is in orbit?” Han said slowly to the little alien.

“They seem to be having all kinds of problems with their docking bays and weapons turrets.” Maz confirmed and Rey smiled, nodding to Maz. She already knew what Ben had done. 

“We’re monitoring the chatter.” The alien continued, “We also have a Resistance freighter inbound. Someone must have told them you were here.” Rey watched as she nodded over to GA-97, making clear who sent the message.

“Is… is Kylo Ren on board?” Han asked.

Maz shook her head, “Han, you need to give him time. He doesn’t want to come home.”

“Maz”

“He landed a bit ago and just headed around the back. I don’t think he wants to talk to you, Han. You need…”

But Han didn’t listen, not that Rey was expecting him to, jumping to his feet and dashing out. Chewie roared and went after him. Maz sighed and finished putting the glasses down on front of Gina and Finn, “Youth, these days. You never listen.” She turned to Ray, “You know what I mean?”

“For the record, Maz, that really didn’t help.” She gave them a little wave before she held her hand out to someone they couldn’t see and disappeared into the Force, stepping into Kylo Ren’s arms at the loading ramp of their new ship.

###  Ben/Kylo

They were standing on the loading ramp of _the Silver Cloud,_ Rey having literally appeared from the Force into his arms, when Han Solo came charging out of the tunnel towards them, yelling his name. Why did he think the old man would leave well enough alone now? They hadn’t spoken in seventeen years by this point and the old man decides they should have a conversation now. Rey sighed and rubbed his shoulders, “Maz should have known better,” and then looked at him, “What do you want to do?”

He shrugged, let her go, only to grab her hand and turn to walk up the ramp. She followed him and an almost negligent wave of his hand closed the ramp behind them. Rey let him take the pilot seat without arguing, which told him how much he was projecting, sliding into the co-pilot’s place beside him without a word. Relief washed through him, he wasn’t sure how to handle all the feelings bubbling up, so he settled for focusing on the controls, sending them into the air. He didn’t check where Han Solo stood. Part of him wanted to kill the man again, and always would. Whatever peace they had come to post Starkiller was lost to him with a living breathing Han Solo chasing after him. He was so distracted, Rey swearing as they hit atmo was the first warning he got that something was wrong. He pulled his attention away long enough to see the flight of TIEs up ahead. 

“Hux must have got the bay open.”

“Probably cut the power and manually opened it, otherwise they would have launched more than one flight.” Rey agreed, “I wonder why they did that.”

Ben had seen the reason, “X-Wings! We need to get out of here.”

“Kylo Ren, I know the only person you want to see less than your father, is your mother, but we will stick to the plan.” Rey ground out, he could feel her pulse increasing and a flash of insight made him hiss, “We have no way of knowing if Dameron is up there.” He knew the look she gave him without even seeing it, and she was right. Of course, Black Leader was there. Of course, he would be guarding _the Raddus_ as it came to face the _Finalizer_. And Rey was right, he could barely deal with his father right now. He definitely couldn’t face his mother. He tightened his grip on his rampaging emotions and ran through the plan in his head. They could do this. They had to do this.

They left the atmosphere and Ben flipped them into a geostationary orbit as Rey punched in the hyper drive coordinates BB8 had unknowingly worked out for her. When they were ready to leave in an instant, she reached over and grasped his hand, “Talk me through this again?” she said, giving him both a distraction and something to focus on. He took is gratefully, leaning back, trying to find his balance and dragging a shaking hand over his face. It was working. With a grind of his teeth, he succumbing to the inevitable and let the emotions run free, strengthening the Darkside. He didn’t have time for anything else, and wasn’t in the frame of mind to draw on the Light “Open yourself to the Dyad, and just follow my lead. I’ll have to do this from the Dark, but you can try for the Light or Grey if you want. You need to go through the ship layer by layer, each metal sheet, each air pocket… When you’re holding them all, you twist to port, I’ll twist the other way...”

“And we’ll tear the Finalizer apart.” Rey finished, “I’ve never used this technique on anything bigger than a tree branch.”

“There are records of it being used on planets.” Ben sighed, “The issue is the time it takes, but the amount of power is the same as for the branch. Hopefully, it will take half the time with both of us doing it.” Outside, the TIE fighters and X-Wings engaged. The Raddus turned to face down the Finalizer and one little freighter on the edge of the planet’s atmosphere was ignored.

She squeezed his hand, leaned back into her seat and reached out with the Force. He squeezed back and followed her, running his mind over the Finalizer, grasping it. It was easier for him since he knew the feel of the ship, was intimately familiar with the habitable areas, but he was surprised to realise how easily Rey navigated it, until she pushed a visual of the Graveyard on Jakku to him. Of course, she would be familiar with the inner spaces of a Star Destroyer. They had been her playground and her factory floor. His grip clicked into place a few seconds before her and a cruel smile curved his lips. Rey squeezed his hand once and together they _twisted_ ripping the ship apart.

It wasn’t quick. He had warned her it would be slow, but he could still feel her impatience through the Dyad as layer by layer, the huge ship crunched beneath them. He hadn’t lied. The power expanded was the same, but the time and the focus was exponentially higher as they kept it up, seconds turning into minutes. Sweat began to run down his spine. On front of them, the ship began to bulge. A handful of lifepods jettisoned.

Rey was beginning to pale, her eyes taking on the glassy look of someone pushing their limits and a fine sheen of perspiration covering her face. He couldn’t afford the focus to check her in the Dyad but if the ship didn’t crack soon, they would have to let it go. The starboard side split, struts swinging out into space like a popped ribcage. More lifepods came free.

He could feel the strain beginning to take it’s toll on him too, felt Rey flag. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, “Not yet! We’re nearly there.” He pulled up more memories of abandonment, of torture, of every betrayal he could, pulling more Darkness to him. His mind fell to Snoke’s Throne Room, on waking up to Hux fingering his blaster and Rey _gone_. And the power poured through him. He pushed some to her, and felt her respond, realise what he had done, and an answering wave of Dark power poured through her and back to him. For a moment he wondered what memory or thought she had called to mind. Outside, they felt the metal scream as the _Finalizer_ pulled apart, the last lifepods already heading to Takodana.

Letting go of the Force, he slumped forward with a groan, his hands shaking as he braced himself against the console breathing heavily. Beside him, Rey was slumped in her seat, running her temples as she caught her breath. The comm flared to life as Resistance ships tried to identify them, but he just sent the ship into hyperspace without answering. He couldn’t, wouldn’t deal them now.

He only barely remembered hauling Rey up and staggering towards the crew quarters. There was a moment when he considered dropping her in the captain's quarters and heading to the first mate’s, but the captain had had an emperor sized bed installed, more than big enough for both of them and he was too exhausted to think further. He followed Rey on the mattress and stopped feeling.


	6. The More They Stay the Same… Sometimes

###  Rey

She came awake slowly, her mind turning lazy twirls around another, still sleeping presence, a presence as familiar to her as her own. But, in all the twenty something years they had spent entwined with each other, this was the first time she had ever woken up with Ben’s arm around her waist and his chest against her back. His breath was hot and moist. His arm was heavy and warm, holding her tight. His other arm had made its way under the pillow. They were still fully dressed, and she knew from the uncomfortable press of their belt pouches and bunched up clothing against her that only pure exhaustion had let them sleep this long. She let out her breath, slow and steady. It was bliss though. She covered the hand on her waist with hers, slotting her fingers in to place.

He woke behind her, coming to instant consciousness with a soldier’s training, “Rey?”

“Hey.” She replied, squeezing gently, “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

He nuzzled into her neck, breathing in her scent. “You didn’t”.

A shiver ran down her back as soft lips found skin. Then another as a hot tongue followed. “Don’t, I must be gross.”

“You’re beautiful.”

She turned in his arms to face him, her hand going up to stroke through his hair, “I’m scared this is a dream.” She whispered.

Ben simply nodded, she knew he felt the same, and then pulled her against him, feeling the heat from her body, the hardness of her muscles and the softness of her skin, “I want to see you.” His whisper dropped between them, his fingers grazing down her sides to count her ribs. They both knew it would take years for the ravages of a scavenger’s life to leave her body. But one day, he would run his hands over her and not feel her bones and she knew how much that would mean to him. Still though, she had no illusions about her appearance. 

“You can see me. You have seen me.” She whispered back, self-consciously, knowing his thoughts. The men in the resistance hadn’t been that good at keeping their thoughts to themselves, or their conversations quiet.

“I want to see you naked, with my own eyes, not just through yours or through the bond.” He pushed his lust, his desire, he vision of her into her mind, and she could feel how much he wanted this. His image of her wasn’t anywhere near reality, but somehow knowing how he felt, that didn’t matter any longer.

She was already stripping her clothing off when he finished. 

“I want to see you too. All of you”, she added.

He sat up to pull the tunic over his head. They couldn’t press skin to skin fast enough.

They were still naked. Ben drew his fingertips down Rey’s side and then back up, trailing them over her breast to catch her nipple. Her hands were buried in his hair as he explored her. He had watched through her so many nights, controlled her body as if it were his own, felt her pleasure, been drawn along by it through the Dyad that kept them together even after Exegol. It had been as much a prison for him trapped between life and death as for her, unable to move on, to let go. Dyads were not meant to be separated. The Jedi claimed to have discovered two in the past, and immediately killed them, deeming them too dangerous to live. The Sith had never discovered any, but their Rule of Two was meant to mimic one. It was worrying. In all their searching they had never discovered where Darth Bane had got idea from or why the Jedi had thought a Dyad so dangerous. Rey pulled her mind from such morbid thoughts, focusing on Ben’s hands instead.

They were here now. Her fingers left his head and began to trace down him, mapping the lines and ridges of his shoulders, tracing the constellations of birthmarks as she stroked down. Arousal sat heavy and lazy on them. Not an inferno, not yet, the fire was still building from the first frenzied round. She smiled as she traced over his biceps, remembering the first time she had seen him shirtless and how distracted she had been. He huffed a laugh at her, “I distracted you that much?”

She shrugged helplessly, “You weren’t like any male I had seen before.” She traced over his pecs, catching his nipple with a nail and enjoying the shiver, “Broad shoulders, pale skin, all those ridges and muscles… You looked like something from a vid, not a real person. I didn’t know people could look like that for real.” 

He shuddered against her. Then he rolled them, so he was above her. Rey couldn’t help the smile that tugged her lips as she felt the Force curl inside her, around her. Bracing himself on one hand, Ben dipped the other between her legs, gently stroking along her wet heat, leaving tingles of energy behind as he deliberately pressed his Force signature, all storming clouds and flashing lightening, into her. His winds began to whip across the still waters of her soul as he tugged her clit, swallowing her gasp with his kiss, knowing her body as well as he knew his own, maybe better. A press and she knew she was lost, reaching out blindly for his cock and pulling him down between her legs.

He stopped them when he touched her entrance, “Rey.” He breathed out, “I’m not going to last.”

She smirked at him, “You don’t need to. You’ll take me with you.” Suddenly, she turned shy, “I’ve noticed that, your orgasm dragged me along.”

“Handy trick, that.” He agreed, dropping his forehead to rest against her shoulder and pushing into her, her body giving way ahead of him and tightening behind him. It was ecstasy. It was perfection. It was home. She shivered beneath him as he settled into place and they began to move. The Force moved with them, merging them together. As he shattered the still lake inside her and her waters swept through them. _Two that are one._ And they were. For every thrust Ben made, Rey rose to meet him. For every stroke inside her, she tightened around him. The feedback loop between them kept them on edge, bringing them both closer and closer to orgasm.

Ben’s hand slid down, finding where they joined and pressed against her clit, long slow strokes, pressing the nerves between fingers until the pressure burst in a flood of pleasure that spilled through them both. She cried out. He roared his release and they both stilled for a single moment of perfection.

He dropped onto his elbows, but she pulled him down, letting his weight settle on her as the orgasm faded to loose-limbed satiation. Home. The word thrummed through her.

The insistent beeping of the comm eventually forced them to separate. Digging into a bag, Ben pulled out a soft black long-sleeved T-shirt and quickly paired it with black trousers and underwear before ducking into the ‘fresher with a smile. He caught the edge of Rey’s thought that it was such an odd thing to be coy about, given their history, but he called back, “I want a shower.” The beeping was getting insistent though, so she let the conversation go in favour of pulling on Kylo’s shirt and heading into the cockpit. The comm light was blinking. She checked the ID, recognising it immediately and toggled the button to send a _gimme5_ message back.

The annoying beeping and flashing light switched off and she absently noticed that this was the sixth attempt at contacting them from the Resistance’s ID. Standing up, she made her way back to the galley and started making caf. They would probably need it. She wondered what they would say, what they could say, to Leia, to the Resistance. The worst of Kylo Ren’s crimes hadn’t been committed yet; and were unlikely to be in this new timeline. Anakin has said someone would talk to Leia and Luke, but not who and he hadn’t told them what the Skywalker twins would be told. Not knowing suddenly felt risky.

Ben came up behind her while she was still staring at ths cups, lost in thought, but his appearance was enough to get her attention. Seeing him in the flesh sent her heart racing and her mind soaring every time. And he was gorgeous to look at. His hair was shoved back, and still wet from the ‘fresher. His skin was still slightly damp making the shirt cling to him like a second skin. Rey drank in the sight as she slowly lilted her face up to him, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He replied, raising an eyebrow. They didn’t usually say the words, not needing the declarations in the face of raw sensation, but if either said such words, they usually had a reason.

Rey shrugged, not sure what she was getting at, “I wanted you to hear the words before we answer the comm” She pressed one of the cups into his hand, “Just a feeling.”

He nodded, his eyes raking over her and a small smile tilting his lips, “What are you wearing?” He took a sip of the hot liquid.

“Hush. It’s long enough to be a dress on me and I wanted to get to the comm.”

He nodded and dropped a kiss onto her upturned lips. Before they had a chance to say something else, the comm beeped again. “ _Gimme5_ doesn’t literally mean 5 minutes, Leia.” Kylo grumbled as he made his way to the cockpit and took the pilot’s seat, settling her comfortably in his lap. Holding his cup in one hand, and her in the other, he used the force to answer the call.

Leia’s blue tinged face immediately appeared, and Rey felt a shot of diluted pain run through her. She had made her peace with the Leia of the future, but that Leia was gone. This Leia had not yet learned to own her mistakes. She still hadn’t learned that ‘sorry’ wasn’t enough when it wouldn’t change her choices.

“Rey, I assume. Nice to meet you, I’m Leia Organa.”

“Hi.”

“It’s good to see you too, Ben. Or should I say Kylo?

“Whichever you prefer, Leia. My name always meant more to you then me.” Rey winced at his words.

The older woman paused for a moment, deciding between the mother, the diplomat and the general before saying anything else, and Rey drank in her image, trying to replace years old memories with the image before her.

“The Force Ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi visited me. He told me… interesting things… disturbing things.” Mother or diplomat, Rey wasn’t sure.

“Like what?” Ben asked.

“The two of you are from a year into the future. That you died. That someone… someone tried to kill you, son.”

Rey sighed internally, the diplomat then, and snorted aloud at her statement, “Your son is Kylo Ren. Lots of people have tried to kill him.”

She felt the muffled laugh against her shoulder, “You’ve tried to kill me.”

“I got over it.” She grinned back at him; her heart somehow lighter to hear him joke about it and took a sip.

Leia huffed in polite annoyance, “Someone tried to kill him _before_ that, when he was still Ben.”

Behind her, Ben snorted, and Rey wasn’t surprised when he focused on another point Leia had made, “We’re from more than a year into the future. Anakin Skywalker is responsible for it? I thought it was him but wasn’t sure. He was confident that the Force would show us our path. And that it didn’t lie with the Resistance.”

“That’s pretty much what Obi Wan told me. I just…” Leia sighed, radiating such sadness, even knowing it was Force induced, Rey couldn’t help but feel for her.

“I miss you, Ben.”

He nodded once and Rey decided to take over the discussion before they could start the emotional manipulation phase of the conversation, “What will it take to make the Resistance and any future government let us go free?”

Leia’s expression tightened, the General coming to the fore, “I’m not aware anyone is looking for you, my dear?”

Rey rolled her eyes at the hint, “I’m sure that will change once everyone realises, I’m with Kylo Ren.”

Leia nodded and looked at her son, “We’ve discussed your… offer, but first I suppose, I should thank you for the information you’ve already supplied, and for the destruction of the _Finalizer._ I didn’t know that was possible with the Force, but it got you a lot of goodwill from Fleet Command once they stopped panicking. We want the information offered by the data chip. All of it. We’re free to inform people where and who we got the information from and you will provide us with a recording renouncing the First Order and Snoke. And you will fight with us where and when we want.”

“No.” Rey said immediately, “Not the last bit. We have to go where the Force sends us, Leia. If that brings us to your battles, then we’ll be there,” she glanced at Kylo and he nodded, “The rest you can have, but we are not able to promise to come when you call.”

Leia looked surprised, but Rey wasn’t going to haggle and negotiate about this. Anakin had been emphatic that they shouldn’t stay with the Resistance. When she initially realised who she had dreamed about, Rey had thought most of that had been the antagonism between him and Leia, but as skilled as she was in the Force, it would be exhausting to be around the other woman’s machinations for any length of time, and Force knows what it would do to Ben.

Finally, the older woman nodded, “Agreed. You can have it in writing as soon as we have the recording.”

They nodded and she continued, “As for Starkiller. We’re launching in three hours. A ground team will take down the shields and turn the weapon on. Once it’s charged strafing runs from the X wings will overload it.”

Rey looked at Ben and raised an eyebrow. 

“We’ll deal with the shields and turning the weapon on. You need to keep Han away from the battle.” He said simply.

Leia raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yes. He’ll die if he goes to Starkiller.”

She was silent for a moment, “Did he die… originally?”

“Yes.” Ben said emphatically, “And he will die again if he goes.”

“Did you…”

He interrupted, “You need to evacuate D’Qar, Leia. Hux might still be stranded on Takodana, but someone knows where you are by now. The Order can track you through hyperspace so you need to be gone before they arrive, and the Falcon can hold a lot people.”

“They can track us through _hyperspace?_ When were you going to tell me this?”

Ben grunted, “When I had the deal for my freedom.” He finished his caf.

Rey did some quick mental math, “If you’re launching in 3 hours, then we should aim to arrive at Starkiller at 17.00. We need to get ready.”

Leia nodded, “I will see you soon. Be careful, both of you and may the Force be with you.

“And with you.” Ben said and turned off the holo.

“How are we doing this.” Rey said, “Coming out of Hyperspace inside the shields?”

“It worked last time,” he shrugged, absently running his fingers up and down her arm, “But I thought we’d try my access code first. If we kit you out like a Knight of Ren, then most of the people there will be more interested in avoiding us then questioning us.” He set her on his feet and made his way back into the living quarters, “Grab a shower and I’ll make some food.”

Rey nodded and followed him, stripping off his shirt to throw at him as she went by. Hot water sounded good right about now. And it was. Standing under the water, letting it clean sand, dirt, ash, engine oil and two rounds of sex from her skin, a faint smile tugged her lips. Dressed as he was, she could see more of Han in Kylo than ever before. There had been moments over the years, flashes of who he could have been if Han had taken him that day so long ago, had given into his son’s tears. Ben Solo would have gone down as the most vicious pirate the galaxy had ever heard of, probably more terrifying then Kylo Ren. She knew this in her heart, felt the truth in the Force. What she didn’t know, what the Force wouldn’t tell her was if that would have been better or worse.

“You need your saberstaff.” They were sitting at the small table just finishing a hastily prepared meal of reconstituted meat and vegetables. It had slightly more taste than the potions she had subsisted on for years, and slightly better texture then the military ration packs Ben had eaten to avoid poisoning in the First Order. This wasn’t the conversation Rey expected to have.

“We don’t have time to get the crystal, Kylo. It took me two weeks trekking through the tunnels last time.”

“I remember. I think one of the ones I have will bond with you, but you might be stuck with a sabre until we find a second crystal. I think it was picking you up through the Dyad. Grab the stuff.”

She complied with a shrug, she did want her lightstaff back after all, and gathered up the supplies she had retrieved while waiting for him on Takodana. He’d ordered most of it, like clothing, to be delivered to the ship, but the pieces to make her weapon from had to be checked. She set everything out on the table in the little kitchen area and began to sort it into piles. Ben came in behind her, carrying a utility belt. Taking the seat across from her, he opened the top pouch and spilled a small pile of Kyber crystals across the table and immediately Rey could hear the faintest, sweetest notes in her mind as the crystals began to sing.

Rey sighed, stretching her hand out to hover over them, “Where did you get them?”

“Starkiller. I took all the ones I could.” She could hear him grind his teeth, “Hux was gathering them up to grind them down to dust. The entire length of the cannon barrel had to be coated in it.”

“Kriff…”

“He would have gone ballistic if he knew I took some.” He nudged the one he had noticed when packing over to her, “Try that one.”

She scooped it up, cradling it in her hand and smiled. The note in her mind was perfect, completely right and yet... The crystal sounded almost apologetic, it’s song filled with thwarted longing, not recognition, “I don’t think so.”

Her fingers grazed over the others, stopping at the largest of them. There was a crack running down the centre. It wasn’t a tune exactly, her heard when she touched it. It was a single clear chime that went on and on. It was comforting and exhilarating all at once. It was _hers_. Instinctively, she tightened her fingers around the crystal and sank into it, learning it matrix, filling the gaps with her own Force signature, making it…

_CRACK_

They both jumped in surprise and Rey opened her hand slowly, scared to look. The crystal had split perfectly down the central crack, leaving two ovals in her hand.

Ben laughed, “Well, you did want a saberstaff.”

“Lightstaff.” She corrected

Ben just grinned at her.

They worked together in companionable silence, Rey building her staff while Kylo put together a Knight of Ren disguise for her. It felt strange, because they were as in tune with each other as they ever had been and strange because they were both there for real. Ben wasn’t controlling Rey’s body, and he wasn’t watching over her shoulder in the Dyad. They were both actually, physically _there_.

“I like it.” He murmured.

Rey smiled at him, projecting her happiness to him, “So do I.” She took the length of wire he handed her and laid it into place, “You know, I never asked, but why the cross-guard sabre?”

Ben shrugged, “After my Kyber Crystal cracked, it became more powerful, but also unstable. The amount of heat generated was too unpredictable. The cross guards sabre was one I had ran across in my studies and I thought I could use the quillions to vent the excess heat as needed without compromising the structure of the hilt. It also meant that I was less likely to lose a hand like… Luke did. A sabre blade can’t cut through the cross guard, so… Once Snoke saw my plan, he directed me to an ancient Sith design, from Malachor. Mine isn’t the exact same, but it gave me the technical specs I needed to make it work. And I like the look and feel of it.”

Rey nodded, “It suited you.”

“Past tense?”

“Yes. For all the crude design in the beginning, it’s clear that it worked incredibly well, but I… I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right _now_. Maybe you should try healing it?”

He hummed a little, then returned to the pile of black material and hard plastic, putting the finishing touches to it. Rey dropped the line of questioning, knowing better then to push at this point. Instead, she asked for the casings and began to work on the visualization that would bring the lightstaff (she was not going to call it a sabrestaff, dammit!) together. She focused harder. This would take a least an hour, probably two.

Rey gave a squeal of delight, the lightstaff pieces rising up into the air and beginning to come together into a single form. Ben watched from the seat across, his eyes still half closed from his own, non-weapon construction based, meditations. Rey knew he had been trawling through the ship looking for faults or trackers or anything else they needed to worry about since he finished with the clothing. She picked up the solder and slowly, painfully slowly, she soldered the two sides of the case together. The bar dropped into her hands. It was maybe 25cm long. Ben nodded to her and she grinned, hitting the ignitions on it to pop out the two blades. They shone a bright yellow, turning Ben’s eyes golden as he looked, “Guardian colour.”

Rey nodded, “Protectors, temple guards. Fitting I suppose.”

Standing up, she quickly ran through the basic lightstaff forms, getting a feel for the weight and balance of her new weapon. It wasn’t the same as her last one, they both noticed immediately. This one had a higher central mass to it, and the blades were slightly longer to compensate for the shorter hilt. The blades themselves glowed were a golden yellow colour. Ben smiled, his pride in her coming across the bond like a warm hug.

Rey was still grinning. She had managed to keep this from him. The knowledge made Ben’s eyes flare and darken to black, _what have you done_ echoing in her mind.

Flipping her staff around, she separated the two ends, twisting it slightly as she did and one end telescoped out, increasing the hilt length by half again. The sides of the larger hilt opened and flared to life. Rey couldn’t help the feeling of delighted smugness that hit her as she passed the larger, cross-guard lightsaber to Ben, “They aren’t designed to be used together.” She explained.

“Rey…”

“Its what the crystal wanted.” He nodded slowly, acceptance and maybe a bit of delight teasing the edge of her mind as he tested the weight of the blade before swinging lightly at her. Rey brought the other blade up to meet it and smiled at him.

They sparred for a few rounds, first with the duel ends of the lightstaff and then lightsaber against lightstaff. It was fun, and relaxing. It was also necessary for Rey to get a feel for the weapon. She had never had an equal, so she relished the challenge. All too soon, the hour out warning sounded. It was time to get ready. 

Personally, Rey thought they had spent far too much time worrying about clothing, but she got where Ben was coming from. The longer they could be ignored by the guards the better and if the guards would outright avoid them, even better still. The Knights of Ren weren’t well known on Starkiller Base because only Cardo and Kylo himself had ever been there, so it was the perfect cover.

“I thought all the Knights were men?” Rey said slowly as she pulled the black armour over her chest. It wasn’t _good_ armour, but then, it didn’t need to be.

“They were, are, but no one hung around them long enough to be sure. I doubt anyone is even sure how many there are.”

Between the armour and the cloak, her gender was pretty ambiguous. She was still slim, but tall for a human female and the outfit made her look bulkier without hindering her movements. Not bad for the time they had. 

“Never though the Fearsome Kylo Ren would be good at dressmaking.” She couldn’t help but quip. He snorted at her from where he was pulling on his own gear. Gina still had his cloak, Rey suddenly remembered, but he didn’t seem bothered by that, rather lost in thought, seeing the final fight with the Knights on Exegol. Looking down at herself, she realised she would fit right in.

“Does this make me a Knight of Ren?” Rey interrupted his thoughts, the idea giving her a strange tingle.

He looked at her with hooded eyes, “Do you want to be one?”

Rey grinned toothily at him, “What would you name me, if I did?”

He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out how serious she was. Rey was grey, like he was now, no longer bound to the dark, and no longer in service to the light. She used the Shadow, so technically… the others wouldn’t like it, but, but the Force _sung_ at the thought. Jedi and Knights, both and neither. Still, her question… he thought for a moment, “What would Rey Palpatine Skywalker be called as a Knight of Ren… What name would the Master of the Knights of Ren give the Princess of the Sith?” And the name came to him, “Paska Ren”.

She thought for a moment, “Huh… ‘ _Pa_ ’ from Pal _pa_ tine and ‘Sk’ from _Sk_ ywalker. Where does the last ‘a’ come from?” 

Kylo shrugged, “Palpatine, I guess. It just sounded right.”

She nodded a deliberate tilt of her head, “I like it.” Her eyes darkened, the Shadow rising, “What next, Master.”

He was instantly hard, hearing those words and he was glad the heavy material kept him covered. “Fuck”, he hissed.

Rey raised an eyebrow, and he knew she had felt that hot flood of arousal, “You like that, me calling you ‘master’.” She reached out, palming him though his trousers.

“Yes.” He hissed, twisting his hips away from her hand, “Now is not the time.” His eyes held promises for later and Rey smiled.

“So, Knights of Ren, what else do I have to do.”

He shrugged, dragging his mind away from what was under her armour “Fight us. You need a good death and to use the Shadow. You have enough deaths that would count as a good one, even if you haven’t killed all of them in this timeline yet. I could Knight you now. Is that what you want?”

Rey was silent for a moment, feeling the Force, then she nodded sharply, “I think so. Jedi and Knight, both and neither. Isn’t that what you thought?”

He pulled his lightsaber out and held it up to her without igniting it. She covered his hands with hers as he said, “Rey Palpatine, would you be a Knight of Ren?”

“Yes”

“Do you use the Shadow?”

“Yes”

“Do you have a good death?”

“Yes”

“Then stand beside us, Paska Ren, Knight of Ren.” The Force sang and something slotted into place inside them. Kylo looked at her, her own surprise mirrored on his face “Wh…”

“Unidentified ship, this is Starkiller Base. Provide your ID immediately or we will fire on you.”

She let go as Kylo spun around and threw himself into the pilots, seat, hitting the comm, “This is Kylo Ren, R-6-9-K-874. I need to landing bay. The Resistance took out the _Finalizer_ over Takodana. I don’t know how many survivors there were. Send relief ships.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The bay doors below them opened and they dropped _the Silver Cloud_ into the hanger of Starkiller Base. 

###  Leia

The evacuation was well under way. Little was left but the fighters now and soon only the strike force against Starkiller would be here. Watching from the loading bay, Leia smiled at Poe hugged Snap Wexley hard and then swung another squadron member around. Watching him made Leia’s heart ache. Obi Wan’s words still bounced around her head, along with her own worries for the future. It was only a matter of time before they… Jay Resdox walked slowly up behind her, ever molecule of him screaming that he didn’t want to be there. He wasn’t a young man, a decade older than her, at least and when she turned to face him, he looked every one of his years as he avoided her eyes. It was time. Fleet Command had decided to replace her.

He opened his mouth to speak, closed it again and sighed. “Twenty-two.”

Leia was thrown and something must have shown on her face. 

“I can… What Master Kenobi said…” He shook his head and fiddled with the hem of his robes, “I can’t get it out of my head. So, I started to think, tried to count up the number of times I turned Ben away from your door.”

Leia hissed in a breath, her eyes widening.

“I can remember twenty-two times, over six years, I told him you were too busy to see him. What if one of those times was the one Master Kenobi spoke of? What if he was going to tell you about Snoke?” the agony in the old man’s eyes broke her heart.

Leia closed her eyes, and her hands fisted, maybe they could have avoided this, avoided seven years of Kylo Ren. The opportunities spread out before her, she could have apprenticed him to one of her other contacts, put him in pilot training. Stars, the Nabarrie Family on Naboo or even Lando would gladly have taken him in. Even _Han_ would probably have taken him. Away from using the Force, somewhere he would have been discouraged from it, would the Jedi have been able to protect him from Snoke? Away from a gang of teenagers all eager to prove themselves, would he have resisted for longer, chased his dream of being a pilot…

But… “There’s no way to know, Jay. And” she took a deep breath, “If you can remember twenty-two and everyone else turned him away the same amount of time… That’s too many to even try to work it out.” Because if Jay had done it, so had the others. They had been so busy, all of them missing their families, all of them putting a better future before their families. It was just bad luck it was _her_ family it had blown up for. Another thought struck her, if he could remember twenty-two, how many _didn’t_ he remember? She didn’t voice it, just allowed the question to double the number in her mind.

He nodded, “Still, I am sorry” and then he moved away, wilfully gets distracted by a transporter on its final preparations.

Leia closed her eyes and sighed

_CRACK_

Her surprised and _painful_ yelp was undignified.

Rubbing her shin, she glared at the small green skinned being, shrouded in blue, that had appeared beside her, “Master Yoda”.

“Padawan.” He leaned on his walking stick.

“I’m not a padawan any longer.”

Yoda shrugged, his ears flickering, “Left the Jedi path, you did.” He nodded seeming to acknowledge her point, “To raise a family, you said.”

“Yes” she snapped, “I wanted a family, Han and children and…”

“And raise Ben, you did?”

“I tried…”

“No” he cut her off with a wave of the stick, “Do or do not, there is no try. _You_ did not.”

She was too surprised to respond.

“Pawn him off, you did. Responsibility you gave away. Responsibility, Snoke _accepted.”_

Leia flinched.

“Make it right, you must.” He tuned his gaze to watch another ship leave, “Or lose them both, we will.” He turned to look at her again, “Greatness we saw. And darkness. Light, there was too. Their like… not in my lifetime, has been seen.”

He reached and rested an immaterial hand on her shoulder, “Fix this, you must, or all is lost.”

“How do I fix it?” Leia gasped, but Yoda was already gone. She rubbed her stinging shin again.

“If it’s any help, I think he’s mostly annoyed at Luke.”

Spinning around quickly she gave Obi Wan, who was sitting on a crate and smiling, the look he deserved, “Luke?”

“Is being as stubborn as ever.” He patted the crate next to him and she joined him. “He sees his own failures in Luke’s mistakes. Makes him tetchy.”

“What mistakes?”

“Ashoka and Anakin mostly, Vos a bit. The Clone Wars, not realising Palpatine was pulling the strings. Not being able to _do_ anything after Palpatine took the throne. Luke has made a lot of the same decisions as we did, mostly with the same results.”

“Ashoka? Ashoka Tano?”

He nodded, “She was Anakin’s padawan once upon a time. What happened with her should have send up red flags, but we were all so busy and… we missed the signs. And then Luke missed them all with Ben. Balance. It keeps coming back to balance. I think we’re missing something, something important.” He sighed once and then deliberately perked up, “I hear, Kylo Ren is about to get a pardon?”

“Yes, in exchange for information and aid.”

“Good.”

Remembering their last conversation, she asked “Have the masters finished their meditations?”

“They have, but they still won’t say much. Ben and Rey are tied together with a Force Bond, one that goes against the teachings of the Jedi.”

“A Darkside bond?”

“Maybe, though I don’t see how. They’re being deliberately obtuse. A few have begun to insinuate they’re too dangerous to live.”

Leia started at that, “How so?”

“I don’t know, but there is a something to this they don’t want to admit. I don’t like it. Secrets have already done enough damage.”

###  Han

The Falcon dropped out of Hyperdrive above a planet that seemed mostly sea. Chewie roared.

“I don’t know. Maybe cause it’s as far from Tatooine as he could get?” Han tried to be reasonable.

Chewie roared again.

“I… don’t know.”

His answers were down there, somewhere. The coordinates on the map were coming up. He still wasn’t sure he wanted the answers, but he was beginning to realise he needed them... He needed closure, whether he got his son back or not. 

Han and Chewie were also well aware that this _mission_ was a milk run, though they hadn’t talked about it yet. Leia could argue about Han being the best person for the job as much as she wants. And yes, they both (kinda) wanted answers, and yes, outside of her, he was the one Luke was most likely to talk too and no, she couldn’t leave in the middle of an evacuation. They both understood all that. What was also true, was that until Leia had spoken to Ben and Rey, he had been part of the attack fleet for Starkiller and the plan was to hunt down Luke _afterwards._

Something had changed. Ben and Rey had given her something, told her something…

Chewie growled.

“I _know._ ”

Another growl

“I know that too. Prep for landing.”

The island was drab, grey, wet and cold. Han strode down the ramp and took it in. Luke was nowhere to be seen, but Han knew his brother-in-law. Luke was here… somewhere. Finn and Gina followed him down, wide eyed and slightly bewildered. Poor kids had been thrown in the deep end. 

Chewie roared and set the two packs down beside the twins.

“I hear you.”

“What now?” Finn asked.

Han looked around again and suddenly he knew. Gut instinct. There would be no answers here. Whatever had happened at the temple… Luke wasn’t going to tell him. The man had fled to the back of beyond to escape it. 

“He’s here.” He gestured to the steps ahead of them, “My guess is somewhere up there. We’ll be back in two days.” He turned and headed back to the Falcon. Chewie followed silently.

His answers weren’t on this pile of rocks. The ones the twins sought might be, but his… his were on Starkiller. 


	7. The Dark Shall Rise…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight at Starkiller Base

###  Rey/Paska

Kylo Ren strode through Starkiller Base like he owned the place and Paska Ren kept pace beside him. It was surprisingly… easy to be Paska. She wasn’t sure what to think of that, but the best description was like finding a perfectly fitting jacket and slipping it on. Paska Ren just _slotted_ into her psyche and settled comfortably against Rey of Jakku and Rey Skywalker (and Rey Solo, but she had never said that one aloud). Rey Palpatine wasn’t quite as comfortable and probably never would be. It was… odd.

Around them officers in their grey uniforms and stormtroopers in their white armour went about their business, speeding up slightly when they neared the two force-users and passing them as quickly as possible. A few turned down other corridors, already planning a different route to avoid ‘Darth Tantrum’. Kylo’s pace never changed, but she could feel the irritation dripping of him. She was glad the mask hit her smirk, even if he felt it. 

The doors ahead of them opened into the command centre. A grey-haired man in a perfectly pressed uniform was standing in the middle of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. At their entrance, he turned to face them, swallowing visibly and snapping off a salute. Rey stopped a step behind and to the left of Kylo, noting the low-level fear that’s spilled off the officer even as he did his best to mask it. 

“Report, General Krasse.” Kylo snapped, the vocaliser in his mask erasing any emotion.

“Lord Ren, we received notification of the Finalizer’s destruction three hours ago. Ships are already en-route to retrieve the survivors and clean up any remaining Resistance presence in the system.”

“Did General Hux or Captain Phasma survive?”

Krasse nodded quickly, “General Hux is alive… and livid.” He glanced at Paska and swallowed again, “Cardo Ren is here as well. Supreme Leader Snoke dispatched him with orders to wait for you here. May I ask… how you escaped the Finalizer, my lord?”

What the hell was Cardo doing here? That was the only thought running through Kylo’s head as options and plans spun around. Rey nudged him through the bond, and he let her answer through him, too distracted to follow, “I was on Takodona what the Finalizer was hit. The first I knew of the Resistance’s presence was when I saw the ship break apart.” He nodded to her, “My Knight was there separately, so I returned with them.”

He cut her off before she could say anything else, _I don’t explain myself_ flittering across the bond. “When Hux arrives, let me know. And inform the Supreme Leader that I have Skywalker’s location. I will be leaving in four hours to find him. Ensure my ship is ready to leave.”

“We have several Lambda Class…”

“No, the one I came in on, bay 26. Just have it refuelled. I don’t want the Resistance’s attention. Inform Cardo to be ready to leave with me.”

Krasse’s skin paled at the idea of speaking to the other Knight but he amswered, “Of course, Lord Ren.”

“I am not to be disturbed until then.” Kylo turned and strode out of the command centre, Paska following him.

“Will Cardo be a problem?” she asked across the bond.

“I don’t know. I would understand if all of them were here, but not Cardo on his own. I don’t know what he’s here for.”

“Maybe we should ask him?”

Kylo shrugged and led her deeper into Starkiller. They were after all, on the clock.

Officers scattered out of their way and the stormtroopers did their best to ignore them as they made their way deeper into the bowls of Starkiller. Pacing beside her ‘master’ Paska unconsciously shifted her armour. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it wasn’t getting in her way, so she wasn’t going to complain.

The next corridor was empty. Kylo stopped, turning to her “How did you get the shields down?”

“Finn, Han and Chewie caught Phasma. They made her give them the codes, I think.”

“Hmm” He started walking again.

“Is she around?”

“I doubt it. The ships won’t be back from Takodana for another eight hours at least. If Phasma survived, she’ll be back then.”

“Oh… so… what do we do?”

Kylo turned to look at her, surprise clear across the bond even if she couldn’t see his face, “We turn them off. I know the codes.”

“Right.”

A few minutes later, they were in a control room and ‘Lord Ren’ was asking for an update on how soon Starkiller could fire, and whether the oscillators were fixed.

Paska could feel it in his mind, a line he was deliberately drawing, but she didn’t understand. “I…need to make it impossible to come back.” Kylo said softly, answering her confusion with his own thoughts, “The most… the best thing I can do for the Resistance is work as a sleeper agent, but… _I can’t_. Even if, and it’s a big if, I could keep it from Snoke, I can’t do that to myself. I can’t do that to _you._ I _died_ , Rey. I spent twenty years _haunting_ you. I won’t risk that for… for however long I can keep it from Snoke. I broke the bond… Its…” and suddenly the words were spoken into the air, “Cardo, Krasse said the Supreme Leader told you to wait for me?”

The Knight had stepped into the corridor outside the command centre.

“He did.” Rasped out the reply  
“Why?”

“He believed you would need help.”

Kylo shrugged and nodded, “Need, no. But it is always good to have a brother at my back. This is Paska.” He nodded to her, “Our newest sister.”

“Paska?” Cardo cocked his head, and she felt his untrained power push against her. She shoved back, staggering the Knight slightly. She could feel it as Kylo’s smirked in her mind.

“She’s Nightsister trained, so unless you want to end up her pet, I suggest you show her respect.”

“Nightsister… is that why…”

“One as powerful as Kylo Ren should be submissive to no one.” She hissed, “He may bend knee to Snoke, but only as his willing follower, not as a subjugate _apprentice_ ”. Rey piled as much scorn onto the word as she could.

“We leave in…” Kylo checked the chrono, “3 and a half hours to finish Luke Skywalker. Get what rest you can, Cardo.”

“You have his location?”

“I do.”

“And her? She would be a Knight?” Aggression hummed through him, along with the desire for a fight.

“I need to fight them. You said it” Paska said across the bond because somehow it was _important,_ she was acknowledged as a Knight. She could feel Kylo’s teeth clench. They were on a timer. The Resistance ships would exit hyperspace in less than half an hour, but they had no way to explain that and no way to avoid this fight.

“I will do this.” Paska stated.

“Yes, you will, if you are serious about being a Knight.” Kylo nodded to a corridor, “The timing could be better, but the nearest training room is that way.”

They set off down the corridor, Cardo Ren, a roiling ball of rage, violence and pain beside them.

The room was simple, a square box covering in mats with racks of weapons against one wall.

“I don’t want to deal with Hux if you blow a hole in the wall, Cardo. Pick a close-combat weapon.”

The Knight made his way to the rack of weapons and picked a vibrosword. Paska stepped onto the mat and pulled her lightstaff from its sheath. Rather than use it, she split the sabres apart, sliding one back into place before igniting the smaller of the two. Cardo grinned behind his helmet and rushed her. She shoved him away with the Force, and he barely escaped the slash that followed. 

“Don’t damage each other. We have a mission in a few hours.” Kylo snapped, leaning against the wall. Paska tilted her head in acknowledgment and spun the lightsaber, taunting Cardo. She could feel the smirk tug his lips. The vibroblade might not be his preferred weapon, but she could tell he was more than proficient with it.

The Knight lunged forward again, his blade flicking out. Paska caught it and slid under. Cardo spun around and slashed again. Paska caught the blade with her own, ducked under and her own blade flashed. Cardo jumped back with a yelp, his armour smoking and the scent of blood in the air.

“First blood” Kylo said silkily, conveying boredom even through the vocoder.

Cardo roared and lunged forward, the blade coming in at an angle. Paska twisted inside his guard, her back pressing up against Cardo’s chest, drawing a grunt from the Knight. She dug the hilt of the second sabre into his side, “You lose, Cardo Ren.”

His stance slackened, his arm falling, “You win, Paska Ren.”

The Force thrilled through her and she nodded to him.

Kylo nodded from where he stood, “Now, can we get a couple of hours sleep before we leave?”

“Of course,” Cardo agreed, and Paska nodded, “The rooms beside mine are available.”

“Then lead the way. Kuruk isn’t here, so I’m piloting and I want some rest.”

###  Armitage Hux

The holo of the fight between ‘Paska Ren’ and Cardo Ren shut off, leaving Hux standing with Supreme Leader Snoke and Ushar Ren, as the latter fingered his warclub absently. Hux was fairly sure he was imagining his own, upcoming, fight with ‘Paska’.

“Well?” Snoke asked.

“It was a good fight. Paska is welcome into our ranks.” Ushar said with a shrug of his armoured shoulders, resting the club against the holo projector. Hux bit his tongue, Paska was clearly a significantly better fighter then Cardo Ren, she had been holding back.

“And Kylo?”

“Appears to have her loyalty as a Knight.” There was note of censure in Ushar’s voice, “For a Nightsister to even follow a man… He must have done something truly exceptional to even attract her attention, but she wouldn’t follow an apprentice, only a _master.”_ He tilted his head to the he dead projector and spread his hands, “As long as Kylo bends knee to you, does it matter if he is your apprentice or not? You keep assuring us you are not Sith.”

“I am not.” Snoke agreed coldly, “I am beyond the Sith. My question is whether Kylo Ren and… Paska Ren walk in the Shadow.”

“Kylo does” Ushar said simply, “If Paska is Nightsister trained then she will weave back and forth between light and shadow, but the Shadow will claim her.”

Snoke nodded and leaned back, contemplating the blank holo, “How do you feel about her joining you?”

“If she has a good death, if she can fight us, then she is welcome.” Ushar said.

“What do you think of her, General?”

“She’s a complication we don’t need, Supreme Leader. And a… Nightsister? Her loyalty is far from proven.” 

Snoke nodded, “Keep an eye on her” and dismissed them.

Standing outside Snoke’s audience chamber as Ushar Ren stomped down the corridor with his club over his shoulder, Hux allowed the shiver to run up his back. Damn Force-users. Still, the situation was now… fluid. Ren had done something to earn Snoke’s distrust, something more then simply finding a new Knight, and it shouldn’t be hard to capitalize on that. He might finally be able to get rid of Ben Solo from the First Order’s ranks, remove any stain of the Rebellion from his creation. Paska Ren, a Nightsister of all things, was a complication he hadn’t expected and could have done without, but ultimately, she was just another Knight. Once Ren was out of the way, command of the Knights would fall to him and she would just have to suck it up. He licked his lips as another thought came to him; if she were pretty under her helmet, maybe she could suck something else of his. The idea of bringing one of Dathomir’s infamous Nightsisters to heel sent a thrill down his spine and the image of her on her knees, swallowing him down, went straight to his cock. He re-arranged himself quickly and started walking quickly down the Supremacy’s corridor. 

It had been something of a surprise when the flag ship of the First Order had come out of hyperspace above Takodana. Snoke’s thorough investigation of every moment he had spent with Ren had been a bigger one, until the message about Luke Skywalker had come in. Ren was on Starkiller of all places, with a new Knight and Skywalker’s location. His plan was to grab a few hours of sleep and then take ‘Paska’ and Cardo with him to Attachoo to kill Skywalker.

And suddenly, Snoke was buying the entire thing and more importantly, _not_ heading towards either Starkiller or Attachoo. In fact, Hux wasn’t sure where they were headed which was something he needed to remedy immediately. The doors to the command desk opened at his ID, it was time he found out what was really going on.

###  Kylo/Ben

The shields died with a whine. Standing beside Paska, she watched as he put another nail in his betrayal of the First Order. As if sensing his thoughts, she slipped her smaller hand into his. They stood there, watching the chrono tick down.

The alarms sounded, blaring out across the base. The Resistance fleet had arrived.

She squeezed, “We need to move.”

He nodded once and let her go. Outside the command centre, he pulled his lightsaber out and lit it, slashing the door controls to smoke and ash. It wouldn’t hold anyone for long, but… it was something. Then they were running towards the bowels of Starkiller. Around them, stormtroopers raced to battle positions and officers ran towards their commands. It was organised chaos, and no one had time to wonder where the Supreme Leader’s Enforcer and another Knight of Ren were running off to.

Crashing into the maintenance tunnel, Kylo slammed two techs up against the wall while Paska threw another one back. They didn’t wait to know if their victims survived, racing on towards the rooms that housed the oscillators. Once again, Kylo punched in his access code and the door to Starkiller’s inner workings began to cycle open.

“Why do you even have access to this?” Paska said. 

Kylo could feel her remembering the sheer number of places she had no access to at Ajan Kloss.

“Because Snoke said I had it.” He shrugged, “And he did that mostly to annoy Hux and remind him of his place.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hux… Hux had no time for the Force and Snoke hated that about him. He wanted Hux to respect it, revere it, but the most he ever got was fear. Despite having no rank in the First Order, Snoke made sure I always had more power, partly as a punishment to him and partly because he wanted the top level of the First Order to be Force users and that meant me and him. The Knights weren’t trained enough to make it work and Palpatine needed some distance between them and the First Order to keep me in the dark.”

The doors clicked into place and they stepped into an enormous bay. Above them cables and pipes soared into the dark giving the illusion of vaulting. Kylo pointed to the oscillators, “There, spin them all the way around, then cut the cables.”

Paska nodded, “And that will jam them open?”

He nodded, “And that will jam them open. No one in command will be able to turn it off.”

She nodded once and headed towards the first column. He watched her for a moment, before moving to the next one.

They worked quickly and efficiently, using their sabres to cut the cables connecting to the oscillators and it wasn’t long until Kylo was watching Paska’s blade sweep through the last length of metal. He nodded in satisfaction. With the cables physically cut, someone would have to come down and replace them before Starkiller could be shut down, a job he knew would take hours even if they weren’t in the middle of a fight. Now they just needed the Resistance to take it out before it fired. But that was Dameron and Co.’s job, not theirs.

The door opened and Kylo licked his lips as he stepped into the familiar silo of the main air vent, the place of half his nightmares. An echo of a long-ago scream hit his ears, a wookie’s roar of pain followed. His gloved hand touched his side where he could still feel the ghost of a bowcaster blast hit. Only luck and the Force had stopped that shot tearing him in half.

“It won’t happen this time. Han’s not here.” Paska’s words were soft as she looked across the bridge, eying it like a monster from a nightmare. And it was, his nightmare though, not hers.

“I know.”

She stepped out onto the bridge and looked up. He joined her. Above them, the shaft rose towards the open air, the barest pinprick of light above them. Every level, a bridge like the one they stood on, spanned the opening, crisscrossing and helping to blot out the sky.

Paska nodded to him once more and set off across the bridge, her steps echoing in the cavernous space. Kylo hesitated a moment longer, torn between the need to follow and the fear of what was on the other side. He straightened his shoulders and stepped out, his heavier thread reverberating around them. They were halfway across when the door on the level below them opened and two figures walked through. His blood froze, his steps slowing to a stop as Paska’s breath expelled in a whimper.

“Ben?”

No!

Kylo stopped, feeling the blood draining from his face.

Chewbacca roared from where he stood behind Han.

“Han?” he choked out, “You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Like hell, I’m not! Take off the helmet, son.”

Kylo reached up, unlocking the helmet on autopilot and pulling it off. It hit the bridge with a metal clank. Paska pulled hers off too, holding it loosely.

“What are you doing here?” Kylo asked, his breath speeding up. It couldn’t happen again, it just couldn’t.

“I came to get you. Come home, Ben, it’s not too late.”

Kylo and Rey shared a look, mystified, “I have a home. And I’m already leaving the First Order.”

Han looked confused, and Chewie whined, “You’re… leaving?”

“Does Leia tell you nothing?”

“Apparently not! So why couldn’t I come?”

Kylo groaned, “Because Snoke wanted me to kill you and he’ll kill you anyway to prove his point!”

“Really?” Han’s hands landed on his hips, his stance defiant, “Oh…” his breath came out in a rush, his posture slackening as his brain caught up to Kylo’s words.

Kylo sighed, “This planet should explode on the next few minutes, so let’s _go!”_

Han nodded enthusiastically and turned towards the door.

Everything started happening as if in slow motion.

The doors at the other end opened.

Kylo’s breath caught as Cardo Ren stepped through

Han and Chewie turned back and froze as the Knight raised the arm cannon mounted on his right arm. Lights began to glow as the laser in the cannon began to charge.

Plasma exploded from the gauntlet’s muzzle.

Paska’s force exploded from her, stopping it, holding it in mid-air.

Kylo drew his sabre, igniting the blade.

The laser finished charging. Light intensified and the whine became audible.

And Kylo threw his sabre in a red flash

The sabre fell, cutting through Cardo’s arm at the elbow. The gauntlet clattered to the floor, the laser dying as Cardo Ren fell back with a scream.

The sabre hit the side of the vent and spun off into the depths of Starkiller, the red-light growing dimmer as it fell.

Kylo took a breath and stared at his father, the plasma bolt centimetres away from his face

Han shuffled closer to Chewie, out of the plasma bolt’s way and it hit the wall behind them when Rey released it.

There was a moment of silence before a rocket hit the silo and shook the entire thing. Right, they were in the middle of a fight, Kylo turned his head and pointed to the door. Chewie roared and grabbed Han, dragging him back the way they came. Kylo and Paska followed above them. They were almost at the door when a blaster bolt hit the bridge beside them. Chewie roared and swung his bowcaster around. Cardo’s hand wasn’t steady as he held the blaster, the remains of his right arm tucked close to his side. He sighted along the barrel again.

The silo took a direct hit, knocking Kylo and Paska off their feet as Cardo fired again. Chewie let out a yowl of pain and the smell of singed fur wafted up. Kylo swore under his breath, gripped the rail and threw himself over, landing between his father and Cardo.

“You’re unarmed, Kylo.” Cardo spat out.

He didn’t need to ask. His hand went over his shoulder, even as above them Paska mimicked the movement. A second later he thumbed the lightsaber on as he brought it in front of him, the yellow blade hissing in the air. Cardo fired again.

The blade snapped out, sending the bolt back the way it came, and Cardo dove out of the way. Paska jumped down and landed between Kylo and Han, hustling them back towards the door and out into the snow. He felt the cold against her skin for a moment. Something clattered onto the bridge in front of him. Concussion grenade!

He threw himself backwards, pulling the Force around him as a shield even as he ran. The blast knocked him forwards and he stumbled a few steps, trying to keep his feet. A second later, he was out in the snow. Paska grabbed his hand and the four of them ran.

A few minutes later, The Millennium Falcon loomed out of the forest and Chewie was running ahead, hitting the ramp and roaring at them to hurry up.

“Head back towards the landing pads.” Kylo snapped at he spun around to close the ramp.

“Are you insane?” Han yelled back.

“No, we landed there, like normal First Order officers and we need to get our ship back.”

Han blinked slowly, staring at him, “You have a ship?”

“Yes, now _move_!”

Han moved. Paska pulled off the armoured jerkin and cloak with a sigh, shifting her shoulders to try to release the tension and the Falcon roared into the sky, swinging back around towards the docking bays.

Running towards the gunnery turret, Chewie howled at them. Kylo nodded, “I know. Get us over the bay and we’ll jump.”

The wookie stopped short, his incredulity thrumming down Kylo’s spine.

“The Force, remember?”

Slowly, the shaggy head nodded and then he was gone, howling instructions at Han as we went. Han bickered back.

Glancing at Paska, he got a good grip on the handle beside him and smiled slightly. They could feel the fight outside. The elation of the Resistance troops, the fear of the pilots as shots zinged past them, the cold moment of nothingness pinpricking through the Force as they died. They waited. 

The Falcon spun and glided through the fight, dropping low to avoid most of the dog-fighting until Han yelled, “We’re coming up on the landing bay. Where am I headed, kid?”

“The T-2400 in bay 26.” Paska called back.

Kylo opened the loading ramp and took a steadying grip on the hydraulic shaft. _The Silver Cloud_ came into view. Reaching out a hand, he caught Paska’s, spinning her around so she was leaning off the end of the ramp, facing him. They nodded once to each other, ignoring the odd shot that came close to the fast-moving ship.

Paska bent her legs and pushed off, flipping away from _the Falcon_ the moment Kylo let go. He followed, dropping off the ramp to land on top of _the Silver Cloud_. Paska was already scrambling for the hatch when he hit, the yellow lightsaber flashing in his hands as he deflected an energy blast. A second later, Paska let out a yelp of delight and yanked open the hatch, dropping neatly down into the ship. Kylo was a moment behind her. She ran around to the cockpit, throwing herself into the seat and began to punch buttons, preparing to launch. Kylo paused, torn between the turret guns and co-pilot.

Suddenly the entire planet rocked, knocking him into the wall. Decision made, he followed Paska into the cockpit and hit the comms. A jumble of commands and orders erupted into the air, but a few more buttons cleared them to just the Resistance frequencies. Dameron was ordered everyone away. And they were off the ground, the air around them crackled. The planet began to split apart as Starkiller Base exploded inside it. Kylo punched the button for Hyperspeed and they were gone. 


	8. And the Light to Meet It

###  Luke Skywalker

He could feel them along the edge of his awareness, just the barest hint as they made their way up the steps. Even together they had nowhere near the same connection to the Force Ben or Rey, or even himself, had. Resolutely, he kept his eyes on the sea in front of him, his connection to the Force as strangled as he could manage. Beside him, Yoda harrumphed, and cracked his walking stick against the rock, “Work, this will not. Responsibility, you have. Teach them, you must!”

“Really?” Luke looked over at him, “After what I did?”

“Failure.” Yoda nodded, hopping off the rock, he minced over to stand beside Luke, “The greatest teacher, failure is.”

“Is that meant to make me feel better?”

“Feel better? No”, Yoda looked out over the sea, “Teacher, you are? Title of Jedi Master, you claim? Hmm?” 

His flesh and blood hand tensed at his side. He didn’t nod, he didn’t move.

“Stop being a master, you cannot.”

“Of cou…” Luke stopped. Yoda was already gone. “Always have to have the last word, don’t you?”

“That hasn’t changed since before the Clone Wars.” A new voice said in a core crisp accent.

Luke’s breath hissed out between his teeth as he spun to face Obi Wan Kenobi. He looked like the man, aged by the suns of Tatooine, that Luke first met.

“Not you as well.”

“I was agreeing with you!” Obi-Wan defended himself.

“Are you here to tell me to train them too?”

“Oh no. Yoda told me not to train your father and I did it anyway. Remember how that ended?" he shook his head, “I’m not going to tell you to train or not train _anyone_. I actually have a question if I may?”

“Sure” Luke sighed.

“Have you ever heard of a dyad?”

Luke frowned, turning the word over in his head, “A dyad? Isn’t that Sith? Banite Sith?”

“It’s what the Rule of Two was meant to create.” Obi-Wan agreed.

Absently he tapped his lips, distantly aware that the twins were coming closer, “Bastila Shan and Darth Revan?”

“Hmm…maybe. Nothing else?”

Luke shook head, “Not that I can… Oh wait... Two who are one in the Force, right? The Temple here. There’s an iconograph on the wall. It shows two figures with no Force represented between them. That could be a dyad, I suppose. Take a look for yourself.” He nodded to the Temple.

Obi-Wan nodded, then looked towards the path. He hesitated for a moment, “I know you don’t want to train them. I know you have concluded that the Jedi should die. I’m dead. I’m not in a position to argue, my time is over…”

“But?” Luke sighed.

“But, if everyone gave up when they failed, no one who mattered would succeed. The lesson is in the learning, not the teaching.”

“Well, that’s vague and unhelpful.”

He got a snarky look for that, “Don’t quote your brother-in-law at me.” And he was gone.

“Master Skywalker?” a tentative voice asked.

Luke sighed and turned to face the two people who had joined him on the cliff.

The young man spoke again, “I’m… Finn and this is my sister Gina. We were told we were Force sensitive and you could train us?”

He held out a lightsaber.

Luke looked at it and slowly, without his permission, his hands accepted it. Memories of a flashing red blade, of searing pain, of the galaxy spinning out of control in a single sentence - _Luke, I am your father._

###  Kylo/Ben

Kylo grunted as he dropped into the seat beside Rey, shifting slightly so the newly built lightsaber sheathed on his back was comfortable against the seat. His black jacket hid it and with it hidden, he was just another pilot, or mercenary or trader grabbing a meal in the dingy cantina with a pretty companion. He threw his arm over the back of the booth to help maintain the image of relaxed nonchalance.

“If you’re worried about being noticed, maybe wear something other than black?” Rey raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not worried.” He said as he gave her all black aesthetic a once over and nodded to the prevalence of black and grey garb around them with a smirk. She elbowed him in the ribs turning the movement into a wave to catch the serving boy’s attention.

“How did it go?” she asked softly, abandoning the old argument about expanding his colour palette. 

“As well as can be expected.” He sighed, “They passed through a week ago. My guess is they were headed for Mustafar.”

“Why Mustafar?”

“Your grandfather knows something’s changed. He lost me with no explanation and then Starkiller was destroyed. If I were him, I’d secure the wayfinders until I knew what was going on.”

“You have a plan?”

Kylo nodded, “We’ll try Kef Bir first and if they’ve taken that one too, worry about finding them. Did you finish the modifications?”

“Yeah” she leaned back against his arm, “The galley is now in the main living area and we now have a training and meditation room behind the refresher. It’s not pretty yet, but we can work on that in transit” Rey snuggled in a bit closer, enjoying just being in _his_ arms, in public, for real. Even if he had survived Exegol, they would never have been able to do this.

The server reappeared and dropped two bowls of stew and a basket of bread onto the table. Rey dug in immediately, leaning forward. Ben sighed at the lost contact and watched her for a moment, just taking her in. Like him, she wore the blaster on her left hip and a metal bar rested against the small of her back, only visible because she was leaning forward. Most people, actually everyone except a Force Sensitive who could hear the crystal, would think it a stun baton. Under the sleeveless black shirt she wore, the line of her ribs was no longer visible. He knew if he ran his finger down, he would feel them, but he couldn’t _see_ them any longer. It was the first of many victories to come in the fight to get Rey healthy, but he nodded in satisfaction anyway and pulled his own bowl towards him. She elbowed him in the side again, a blush staining her cheeks at the image of her in his mind, but he just grinned, promising himself that one day, in the not-too-distant future, Rey would be complaining that her muscle mass was what made her unattractive, not her skeletal frame. The blush spread further down her neck as they both remembered Ben’s response to those muscles.

The door opening made them glance up and Kylo’s eyes widened as Han and Chewie walked into the cantina, “Seriously?”

Chewie let out a surprised roar and changed direction towards them. Han stopped his chatter in surprise and turned to follow, pausing in mid-stride as he seen them. Rey groaned and snuggled deeper into his side, letting some of her calmness flow through him. He glanced down at her and dropped a light kiss onto her hair.

The newcomers dropped into the chairs across from them, and Han looked around to catch the server’s attention. After ordering another round of drinks and meal for him and Chewie, he turned back and looked them over, “You do know there are other colours then black, right, kid?”

“I like black.”

Han looked over at Rey, “What’s your excuse?”

Rey shrugged, “Twinsies?”

Chewie gave a laughing growl and Rey shrugged again, “No real reason. It was what the shop had in and I pulled out of the drawer this morning.”

“Right, so if I check, will I find other colours in those drawers?” Han asked, sarcasm dripping from each word.

Rey and Ben shared a look. There were a few other colours, but they both tended to gravitate to black and grey because the oil stains, and blood stains, didn’t show up as much. No one spoke for a moment as the serving boy reappeared. 

He put the four cups down, then carefully moved the bowls from where they balanced on top to their place on front of Han and Chewie before motioning towards the empty ones. Ben nodded and the kid took them and left. He snagged a cup and took a swallow, pushing another over to Rey.

Han ran a hand through his hair, put his hands on the table, then moved them to his lap. His leg jiggled a bit. Kylo could feel Rey biting back a laugh, recognising where he got it from.

“Listen,” Han blurted out, “I wanted to thank you… for… you know.” 

Kylo nodded, remembering a flash of red and a clatter of metal against metal as his lightsabre fell into the depths of Starkiller, remembered another life where a flash of red was followed by _Han_ falling into the depths of Starkiller.

“You’re welcome.”

Han opened his mouth, closed it again. Chewie gently whacked the back of his head and Ben watched Han throw a half-hearted glare his way. The wookie just turned back to his meal, obviously already tired of the Solo/Skywalker/Organa/Ren family drama. Han opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. He looked at his bowl, glanced around the room and the words blurted themselves out.

“I’m sorry,” the words finally escaped, “I should have taken you with me that… last time. I should have listened.”

Chewie moaned his agreement around a mouthful of stew.

“I’m sorry too. Sorry, I couldn’t be what you and Leia wanted.”

Han winced a bit, and then glanced around, “I don’t know… I think you worked out quite well.”

Ben snorted in response, “Leia doesn’t agree.”

“Leia had her shot at making you respectable. Then she and Luke got another shot at making you a Jedi.” Han replied with a grin, “Now it’s my shot to make you a scoundrel.”

“You mean a conman?”

Chewie laughed his agreement again and Rey sniggered at Han’s hurt look.

“That’s not fair…” he trailed off with a sigh, “Leia hasn’t told me much.” He nodded to Rey, “You’ve told me enough to… I don’t know. What _happened_ , Ben, please?”

So, for the first time, Ben tried to explain to someone, in words, exactly how he ended up in the First Order, then leading it, then dead and haunting his dyad partner and finally hurled back in time. Han and Chewie ate their stew and listened. Rey kept the beer, weak shit that it was, coming, but otherwise stayed silent.

Eventually, Ben wound down and gave a small shrug, “And that’s where we are now.”

“Well, that is one hell of a story.” Han sighed, “What next?”

Ben shrugged, “Next we stop her grandfather. And then we live happily ever after.”

Chewie roared and Han raised his cup, “I’ll drink to that!”

**Author's Note:**

> Rereading chapter 9, I've come to the conclusion that it would work better as a one-shot between this and the sequel, so its gone back to 8 chapters :)


End file.
